A couple sit on a bench on the banks of a river in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on Jan 11, 2018. A global trade recovery and Vietnam’s young and low-cost workforce have been magnets for international investors like Nestle SA, which have opened factories in the country this year. That’s helping underpin its economy, which expanded 6.8 percent in 2017, among the fastest in the world.(PHOTO / BLOOMBERG)

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is nudging young people to tie the knot before they turn 30 and start having babies as officials worry about low fertility rates in some parts of the country.

To get young people in the mood for love, Phuc is directing local authorities to offer dating clubs and marriage consultants, according to a decision posted on the government’s website. The premier is encouraging women to have their second child before turning 35.

Vietnamese age 15 to 64 account for 68 percent of the population, according to a posting on the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s website in December

The government wants young couples to get busy as the population ages.

Vietnamese age 15 to 64 account for 68 percent of the population, according to a posting on the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s website in December. Those 65 and older represent the fastest-growing segment, according to the ministry. This age group represented 7.7 percent of the population last year, up from 6.4 percent in 2009, according to the 2019 population census posted on the General Statistics Office’s website.

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The government is also asking provincial authorities to put in place pilot projects to encourage couples to have two children, such as providing priority access to schools, financial support for education and allowing for ownership of social housing, according to the decision. Conversely, local authorities should consider increasing “social contribution” requirements to people who wait until they are older to get married, the decision said, without elaborating.to people who don’t help with the government’s plan, the decision said, without elaborating.

Vietnam’s population increased by 10.4 million between 2009 and 2019, the ministry said. Vietnam’s population currently is at about 98 million people, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

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