HCM City is working on a new programme with policies and mechanisms designed to attract experts and talented workers that the city needs to implement its socio-economic development plans. Photo tuoitre.vn

HCM CITY — The municipal administration ways it is working on a new plan with greater benefits to attract experts and talented workers that the city needs. 

HCM City Chairman Phan Văn Mãi said the new programme was being prepared because the current regime of remuneration and perks has proved insufficient; and there were barriers to talent development as well.

The new plan will be submitted to the National Assembly later this year

Among the perks that the city will consider are priority visa policies, better remote working conditions and travel support for experts living abroad. 

Nguyễn thị Lệ, Chairwoman of the city legislature – the People’s Council – asked the executive – the People's Committee – to evaluate practical impacts before proposing appropriate policies.

The city had launched a pilot programme in 2014 (under Decision 5715) to lure talented people to work in public agencies. This programme recruited four experts were recruited to the BioTechnology Center of HCM City – one living and working in Việt Nam and the other three overseas Vietnamese living in Canada, Australia and the U.S.

They helped establish the center and form a number of new programs involving nanomaterials, biotechnology and molecular biology, orienting this towards cancer research.

Under the pilot program, experts could get the highest salary of VNĐ150 million (US$6,470) per month, but, under the official one, talented people including professors and associate professors were only entitled to level 2 of the salary coefficient of state worker, just VNĐ13-14 million per month.

When the pilot phase ended in five years and entered the official phase, the experts quit because the income was too low. 

The four were among a small number of talented people that the city had recruited under Decision 5715. They were also among 14 of 19 scientists who quit when the official phase was launched in 2019.

Since then, the city needs around 20 experts/scientists, but it has not been able to recruit any.

In April, the city’s People's Committee announced the recruitment of five experts and scientists this year. They would directly join research and consulting activities related to mechanisms and policies that are to be proposed to the municipal People's Committee.

The recruitments are in the areas of consulting mechanisms and policies in support of: small and medium-scale enterprises; collective and private sector development; environmental biotechnology; food biotechnology and animal biotechnology. — VNS