Gender equality good for business, Vietnamese firms told

More than 71 percent of Vietnamese women are actively involved in the labor market, with the ratio of women with university degrees being 5 percentage points higher than men, according to data released at the recent Vietnam Business Forum. 

Women account for 48 percent of the workforce in Vietnam.

A McKinsey study has found that women play an equal role in the labor market, and will help global GDP increase by $28 trillion by 2025.

However, like in many other countries, they are paid less than men in Vietnam, with an estimate putting their wages at 12 percent lower than their male counterparts.

These data highlighted the fact that Vietnam is yet to achieve gender parity in the market place.

Studies have found that gender inequality is counterproductive for businesses.

In fact, promoting gender equality in the workplace will fetch Vietnamese businesses improve their performance and brand awareness, attract talent and become more competitive, experts say.

At a workshop on "Promoting Gender Equality in the workplace and new points in the draft revised Labor Code," a representative of the labor ministry agreed that the draft needs to incorporate provisions that have been endorsed by both workers and employees.

The workshop was part of the Promoting Gender Equality project being carried out by the VCCI.

Several instances of progress were cited at the workshop, including textile factory managers launching an initiative to design platforms for shorter women to operate machinery that requires workers to be at least 1.55m tall.