According to statistics from the Vietnam Labour Export Association, Vietnam annually sends abroad around 70,000 workers, and these workers send home approximately US$1.5 billion. The figure is expected to increase if Vietnam has high-skilled workers. Currently, weak in professional skills are putting Vietnamese workers in a disadvantageous position compared with those of other countries in the region. If Vietnamese labourers fail to compete with foreign rivals, especially after Vietnam is admitted to the World Trade Organization (WTO), they will be likely to lose ground in their own domestic market.

Chairman of the Vietnam Labour Export Association Vu Lam Thoi said at a seminar on training professional skills in the current developing economy of Vietnam that all economic hurdles will be removed after Vietnam joins the WTO, facilitating business activities of foreign enterprises in Vietnam. If the above mentioned shortcomings are not overcome soon, Vietnam will be at high risk of losing ground.

According to statistics from the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Vietnam’s vocational training improved remarkably in the 2001-2005 period. By June this year, the country will have 233 vocational training schools, 404 centres and 212 colleges. 70 percent of the learners will find jobs after graduating. The number of trained workers also increased from 10 percent in 1996 to nearly 30 percent in 2005. In fact, Vietnamese workers are not only weak in professional skills but also in foreign languages. More importantly, the qualifications of Vietnamese workers still fail to meet international and regional requirements. 80 percent of the total workforce (43 million labourers) are unskilled labourers. 12.8 percent of 95, 430 labourers working abroad are trained workers. Apart from being limited in professional skills, Vietnamese workers are also weak in maintaining discipline, thus leading to negative impacts. Limited in foreign languages, not a few Vietnamese labourers fail to get high wages. Worse still, labourers’ certificates of vocational training are not accepted in foreign countries, directly affecting their income and working status.

Mr Thoi said if Vietnam does not quickly take effective measures to improve professional skills for labourers, the Vietnamese labour market will face tough competitors from Thailand, China and Laos, once the country opens up its market. If Vietnamese labourers fail to increase their competitiveness in terms of working efficiency, they can not compete against foreign rivals in both the domestic and foreign markets.

In the past, cheap labour cost was often mentioned when talking about the attraction of the Vietnamese market. Presently, however, this advantage can easily become a disadvantage. Normally, cheap labour cost goes with low professional skills. Therefore, if Vietnam continues to maintain such an advantage, Vietnamese labourers’ professional skills will come to a standstill. This advantage will also become counter-productive when large investors flock to Vietnam. In that situation, only skilled workers can have the chance to seek jobs and earn a stable income.

To overcome the shortcomings of the domestic labour market, a ‘revolution’ in vocational training is needed. Some Thai businesspeople revealed that Thailand has developed a national professional skill standard. Providing vocational training and granting certificates for labourers involved the three sides – enterprises, universities and vocational training schools with the participation of highly skilled artisans. This will make vocational training more practical. In addition, Thailand also has criteria to assess workers’ professional skills. Vocational training schools in Thailand are also building a certification system. Hence, Thai certificates of workers’ qualifications and professional skills have been accepted in many countries around the world.

Thailand’s achievements in this field have clearly demonstrated the effectiveness of vocational training plans for labourers. It’s high time labourers, enterprises and the Government made greater efforts to ensure that Vietnam could stand firm in the international economic integration process.

Source: VOV news 21/05/2006