Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Two years after joining the ASEANEconomic Community (AEC), Vietnam’s labourers have not tapped the opportunitiesbrought about by greater labour mobility, according to the Ministry of Labour,Invalids and Social Affairs.
As ASEAN countries seek further integration, they have agreedto allow engineers, nurses, architects, doctors, dentists, surveyors,accountants and tourism professionals from one ASEAN country to work in anotherif they meet certain requirements.
However, Ha Thi Minh Duc, deputy head of the InternationalRelations Department under the labour ministry said that so far only 109engineers and architects in Vietnam qualified for mobility requirements.
“While the AEC allows free labour mobility, member countrieshave requirements for each occupation and they need to discuss among each otherhow to grant mutual recognition and set up skills standards for theseoccupations,” Duc said.
“Meanwhile, there’s still a considerable gap among thenational occupation skill framework among ASEAN member countries, especiallyamong Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam,” she said.
The slow mobility was also due to policies of each country, Ducadded, saying that after workers meet the general occupation standards, they willalso have to meet standards set by each country.
Workers’ ability to work outside their country also dependson local demand.
For instance, a Vietnamese doctor who wants to work inThailand has to know how to speak Thai. On the other hand, some local employerswho want to recruit foreign workers have to prove that they can’t findqualified locals of equal pay to hire a foreigner, she said.
Mac Van Tien from the South East Asia Finance, Investment andTrade Institute, said apart from technical barriers set by ASEAN membercountries, slow mobility was also caused by moderate Vietnamese labour skills.
“Vietnamese labourer’s skills in teamwork and working inmulti-cultural environments are limited,” Tien said.
He added that while skills and knowledge can be improved andcultivated, Vietnam’s preparation for integration has been poor.
“We rank 11 out of 12 Asian countries in terms of labourerquality and our productivity is one third of Malaysia’s and two fifth ofThailand’s,” he said.
Currently, the number of labourers moving among ASEANcountries is 6.5 million, of which 2.28 million are from ASEAN countries andthe rest are from outside the bloc. The main destinations are Malaysia,Singapore and Thailand. Most migrant workers to these countries come fromIndonesia, Myanmar and Malaysia.
“Vietnam is not yet a destination or the starting point forqualified labourers moving in the region,” Tien said.
In order to take advantage of free labour flow, the abilityto speak foreign languages, professionalism and work ethics are the mostimportant factors, said Nguyen Thu Trang, Director of Human ResourcesRecruitment and Consultancy of Manpower Group.
“For the labourers, they need to be able to speak foreignlanguages, work in a team effectively, learn new skills and adapt new workingenvironments,” Trang said.
“What the Government can do is to be flexible in labourtraining so that workers can catch up with changes and regional standards.
Foreign language skills and soft skills must be improved, and the Governmentneed to work with enterprises to make training programmes more relevant tomarket demands,” she said.-VNA
As ASEAN countries seek further integration, they have agreedto allow engineers, nurses, architects, doctors, dentists, surveyors,accountants and tourism professionals from one ASEAN country to work in anotherif they meet certain requirements.
However, Ha Thi Minh Duc, deputy head of the InternationalRelations Department under the labour ministry said that so far only 109engineers and architects in Vietnam qualified for mobility requirements.
“While the AEC allows free labour mobility, member countrieshave requirements for each occupation and they need to discuss among each otherhow to grant mutual recognition and set up skills standards for theseoccupations,” Duc said.
“Meanwhile, there’s still a considerable gap among thenational occupation skill framework among ASEAN member countries, especiallyamong Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam,” she said.
The slow mobility was also due to policies of each country, Ducadded, saying that after workers meet the general occupation standards, they willalso have to meet standards set by each country.
Workers’ ability to work outside their country also dependson local demand.
For instance, a Vietnamese doctor who wants to work inThailand has to know how to speak Thai. On the other hand, some local employerswho want to recruit foreign workers have to prove that they can’t findqualified locals of equal pay to hire a foreigner, she said.
Mac Van Tien from the South East Asia Finance, Investment andTrade Institute, said apart from technical barriers set by ASEAN membercountries, slow mobility was also caused by moderate Vietnamese labour skills.
“Vietnamese labourer’s skills in teamwork and working inmulti-cultural environments are limited,” Tien said.
He added that while skills and knowledge can be improved andcultivated, Vietnam’s preparation for integration has been poor.
“We rank 11 out of 12 Asian countries in terms of labourerquality and our productivity is one third of Malaysia’s and two fifth ofThailand’s,” he said.
Currently, the number of labourers moving among ASEANcountries is 6.5 million, of which 2.28 million are from ASEAN countries andthe rest are from outside the bloc. The main destinations are Malaysia,Singapore and Thailand. Most migrant workers to these countries come fromIndonesia, Myanmar and Malaysia.
“Vietnam is not yet a destination or the starting point forqualified labourers moving in the region,” Tien said.
In order to take advantage of free labour flow, the abilityto speak foreign languages, professionalism and work ethics are the mostimportant factors, said Nguyen Thu Trang, Director of Human ResourcesRecruitment and Consultancy of Manpower Group.
“For the labourers, they need to be able to speak foreignlanguages, work in a team effectively, learn new skills and adapt new workingenvironments,” Trang said.
“What the Government can do is to be flexible in labourtraining so that workers can catch up with changes and regional standards.
Foreign language skills and soft skills must be improved, and the Governmentneed to work with enterprises to make training programmes more relevant tomarket demands,” she said.-VNA
VNA
