Ho Chi Minh City (AsiaNews) - With economic growth of 6.6% recorded in 2009, Vietnam is one of the few countries that has not suffered from the global crisis. Currently in Hanoi, the Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is meeting. Here delegates discuss climate change and future strategies for economic growth, but they ignore that the maintenance of development has created many social problems. These include the migration of millions of people from rural areas to cities.
Vietnam has traditionally been an agricultural country, but the recent economic development has driven millions of young rural residents to travel to cities to improve their economic status and access to education. The state does not invest in the countryside and local authorities lack the funds necessary to create appropriate programs in poor communities for economic development. The young people of working age account for approximately 60% of the population and in Ho Chi Minh City alone out of a population of 6.5 million over 2 million are migrants. Of these, 76% are young people from the countryside between 16 and 37 years of age. Among them few have enough money to pay tuition fees, which amount to about U.S. $ 1,000 per year.
"I wanted to arrive in Ho Chi Minh City to earn enough money to return home and open a garage for motorcycles - says Thuan from the province of Nam Dinh - but I have been looking for a job for days, one that will give me enough money to survive". The majority of young people live in miserable conditions because of low wages and the high cost of living in the metropolis and once their studies are over can no longer return home.
To resolve this problem the Ministry of Labour, War Veterans and Welfare has recently given the opportunity to young migrant students to access social and development programs in their communities of origin.