Gov’t to collect informal economic statistics
VGP – PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc has passed a project on informal economic statistics with a view to clearly figuring out scope and scale of the economy.
The project also aims to renovate and perfect profession of the statistical sector; catch up with international standards and practices; better the legal system, mechanism; and improve State management efficiency of the economy.
It targets to survey and make specific, detailed, and comprehensive evaluations of the informal economy which has yet been observed in five groups of three economic sectors (agro-forestry-fishery sector, industrial and construction sector, and service sector); ownership types (State, non-State, and FDI); in sectors, localities, and cities. It plans to build a list of economic activities which have not been observed.
The General Statistics Office reported that the informal economy consists of five components including underground economic activities; illegal economic activities; unofficial economic activities which have not been observed; household economic activities; and omitted economic activities due to basic data collection programs.
Earlier, Fulbright University in 2018 estimated that Viet Nam’s informal economic sector makes up 25-30% of total GDP and has 57% of total number of workers, but the General Statistics Office (GSO) believed that the informal sector is not that large.
The Ministry of Planning and Planning submitted a scheme on informal economic statistics to the PM for approval. The operation of the informal business sector contributed to the economy, but it was not yet counted when it comes to calculate GDP.
Complicated and unclear regulations lead to development of the underground economy. As people find it difficult to observe regulations, they try to avoid them and become ‘unofficial’.
If the economy grows well, the informal sector shrinks. But if the economy slows, businesses tend to hide. Research shows that during economic recession, the size of the unofficial sector can grow up to over 25%.
Deputy PM Vuong Dinh Hue asked for a method to identify the unobserved economic sector in order to better implement socio-economic development plans in 2018.
Nguyen Bich Lam, general director of GSO, confirmed GSO has been assigned by the government to carry out research about the informal sector./.
By Kim Loan
