“Labor mobility will remain an inevitable trend over the next 10 to 20 years; therefore, stable accommodations—ranging from short- to long-term housing—must be developed for workers. Social housing should return to its fundamental purpose as a place to live, not an asset for ownership,” said Dr. Huynh Phuoc Nghia, director of the Economics, Law and Management Center of the Economics, Law and State Management School, University of Economics HCMC, in an interview with The Saigon Times. Shortcomings of the housing market The Saigon Times: You are one of the few experts who mentioned the model of strong development of social housing for lease early on. What is the reason for your suggestion? Dr. Huynh Phuoc Nghia: As soon as the start of the open-door policy, Vietnam identified that alongside food and foodstuff production and consumer goods manufacturing, commodity export is one of the three fronts of the economy in the renovation period. Since then, the industry sector, primarily labour-intensive and light industry, has developed very well. First, the large number of people leaving their farms and farm labor to work in cities and industrial parks has created the demand for places to stay or reside, rather than to own. However, […]