THE ECONOMIC SITUATION IN SOUTH VIETNAM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82S00205R000200010038-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 25, 2006
• Sequence Number: 38
• Publication Date: April 21, 1969
• Content Type: IR

Apved For Release 2007/03/08 : CIA-RDP82S00205R000 jk W8-1
Secret
DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
Intelligence Report
The Economic Situation in South Vietnam
(Weekly)
State Dept. review completed
USAID review completed
Secret
21 Apri! `169
No. 0490/69
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Secret
WARNING
This document contains information affecting the national defense of the
United States, within the meaning of Title 18, sections 793 and 794, of the
US Code, as amended. Its transmission or revelation of its contents to or
receipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
GROUP I
EXCLUDED FROM AUTOMATIC
DOWNORADINO AND
DECLANSIFIOATION
Secret
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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Directorate of Intelligence
Summary
Because of a shortage of skilled workers,
South Vietnam is putting great stress on job
training programs. A government committee has
been set up to initiate new training programs and
to draw up manpower policies for the postwar
period. Employers of the foreign workers im-
ported to meet the demand for skilled labor are
required to establish training programs for their
Vietnamese employees. About 40 percent of the
Vietnamese employed by the US Government, which
except for the Vietnamese Government is the larg-
est single employer in South Vietnam, are un-
skilled laborers.
Retail prices in Saigon declined two percent
during the week ending 7 April as prices of most
protein foods fell sharply. The price index of
imported commodities was unchanged. All free
market currency and gold prices declined slightly
for the second week.
ANNEX: Retail Prices in Saigon (Table)
Currency and Gold Prices (Graph)
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Manpower Training
1. South Vietnam currently has a shortage
of
skilled workers and must also plan for the time
when demobilized military forces will have to be
absorbed into the civilian labor force. As the
first step toward establishing manpower policies
for the present and the postwar period the Viet-
namese Government has set up an Interministerial
Manpower Coordinating Committee. According to
Minister of Labor Hien, the committee initially
will be concerned with training Vietnamese in-
structors who in turn will be able to train skilled
and semiskilled workers.
2. Data on the skills classification. of the
Vietnamese labor force are not available, but
there has been an embassy study on the occupa-
tional characteristics of Vietnamese employed in
the US sector of the economy. With the exception
of the Vietnamese Government, the US Government is
the largest single employer in South Vietnam. US
Government agencies and contractors employ about
145,000 Vietnamese, or an estimated eight percent
of the civilian nonagricultural labor force. Ac-
cording to the embassy study, 80 percent of the
Vietnamese employed in the US sector are in blue
collar occupations and half of these are unskilled
workers. Of the 20 percent in white collar occu-
pations, three-fifths are clerical workers. Fewer
than 50 workers are in high-level executive and
managerial positions.
3. The shortage of skilled Vietnamese workers
is best illustrated by the fact that there cur-
rently are about 20,000 Korean and Filipino workers
employed by US civilian and military agencies and
their contractors in white collar jobs and skilled
and semiskilled occupations. The presence of
foreign workers is an affront to Vietnamese pride,
and the government strictly regulates their entry.
Since August 1967 employers of Vietnamese and for-
eign workers have been obligated to establish
training programs for their Vietnamese employees.
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Minister Hien has been especially energetic in
promoting and praising the training programs of
US contractors. When criticized for the large
number of foreign workers in South Vietnam, he
has been able to point to these programs as proof
that Vietnamese workers are not being left com-
pletely out of the market for jobs with US con-
tractors. There is a clear need for additional
job training programs, however, according to US
employers in South Vietnam. Among blue collar
occupations they cited training for auto and
heavy equipment mechanics as the first priority.
More training programs also are needed for
electricians, plumbers, and heavy equipment
operators.
4. Retail prices in Saigon declined two
percent during the week ending 7 April. Food
prices fell three percent, while nonfood prices
rose one percent, Prices of most protein foods
fell sharply following the holiday weekend.
Prices of all grades of rice were unchanged.
Among nonfood items charcoal and firewood prices
again increased, possibly reflecting the con-
tinuing military activity in the Cambodian border
areas from which these products come. The USAID
price index for selected imported goods continued
to be stable. Higher prices for fertilizers,
chemicals, and plastics were offset by lower
prices for motorbikes, building materials, and
sugar. (A table of weekly retail prices in
Saigon is included in the Annex.)
Currency and Gold
5. All free market currency and gold prices
declined slightly for the second week. During
the week ending 7 April the prices of dollars and
MPC (scrip) each declined one piaster to 190 and
150 piasters per dollar, respectively. The price
of a dollar's worth of gold leaf also declined one
piaster to 275 piasters, the lowest price since
last fall. (A graph on monthly and weekly currency
and gold-prices is included in the Annex.)
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Weekly Retail Prices in Saigon
2 Jan
6 Jan
17 Mar
24 Mar
31 Mar
7 Apr
1968
1969
1969
1969
1969
1969
308
400
32
397
01
392
Index for Food Items
!mi
4
Of Which:
(In Piasters)
Rice-Soc Nau
(100 kg.)
2,500
3,100
3,100
3,050
3,000
3,000
Pork Bellies
(1 kg.)
220
260
220
240
260
230
Fish-Ca Tre
(1 kg.)
230
310
330
320
300
300
Nuoc Mam (jar)
150
220
220
220
220
220
241
319
3
05
308
10
Of Which:
(In Piasters)
Firewood (cu. meter)
600
800
740
760
790
810
Cigarettes (pack)
14
22
22
22
22
22
White Calico (meter)
52
82
68
68
67
67
Kerosene (liter)
9
10
10
10
11
11
a. Data are from USAID sources. For indexes 1 Jan 1965 = 100.
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Saigon Free Market Gold and Currency Prices
196 . ' 196 6 19.57
US $10'GREEN
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