HANOI, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's regional minimum salary will be raised by 6.5 percent in 2018, or each employee will receive additional 180,000-230,000 Vietnamese dong (8-10.1 U.S. dollars) a month, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said on Tuesday.

The minimum monthly salary will rise to 3.98 Vietnamese dong (176.1 U.S. dollars), 3.53 million Vietnamese dong (156.2 U.S. dollars), 3.09 million Vietnamese dong (136.7 U.S. dollars) and 2.76 million Vietnamese dong (122.1 U.S. dollars) according to geographic zones in which enterprises are located.

Firms in Vietnam are not allowed to pay manual workers monthly salaries which are lower than the minimum salary. Salaries paid to employees who have undergone vocational training should be at least 7 percent higher than the minimum salary.