HANOI – The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will support Vietnam in improving its workforce via multiple projects as the country is facing a shortfall of skilled labor, said Shimizu Akira, chief of JICA Vietnam.
Vietnam has been attractive to FDI thanks to its hardworking workers. The demand for diversifying supply chains due to trade conflicts between the U.S. and China and the Covid-19 pandemic has driven the investment shift to Vietnam, Akira said during a press conference in Hanoi on October 12.
However, Vietnam will gradually lose its labor advantages, resulting from the aging population in the next 30 years, the limitations of the current cheap labor force and low labor productivity.
Due to the above reasons, Vietnam needs to promptly develop its workforce to accommodate the rising labor demands in the years to come.
JICA will continue supporting Vietnam through technical cooperation and loan assistance to help the Vietnam – Japan University establish a post-graduate program and a new educational facility in Hoa Lac as of 2023, with the ambition to turn this university into a comprehensive one with 6,000 students.
Besides, JICA will boost career connectivity for interns to practice and improve their working skills. The project aims to create a better work environment for Vietnamese laborers in Japan by linking the Vietnamese workforce with Japanese businesses, simultaneously eliminating illegal career brokerage.
In parallel with the above projects, in the sector of skilled labor training, JICA is mapping out a plan with the Vietnamese Government to give financial support via ODA to 13 career training schools. At the beginning of the project, Japanese experts will come to Vietnam to offer support, guidance, training and transfer training skills to Vietnamese.
In addition, JICA will support Vietnam increase its localization rate, which is expected to make the country more appealing to foreign investors for the global expansion of supply chain trends post-pandemic.
In the past years, JICA has implemented many projects in Vietnam, such as providing ODA loans for the metro project in HCMC, connecting the Ben Thanh market with the Suoi Tien Theme Park, or giving financial assistance to a private developer of an onshore wind farm in Quang Tri.
