From Bernama
HANOI — Vietnam is facing numerous challenges in its bid to improve human resources and take advantage of the current period of “golden population”, Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported experts as saying.
Viet Nam is facing numerous challenges in its bid to improve human resources and take advantage of the current period of “golden demography,”.— Photo baodautu
The term “golden population” means there are at least two people in the working age group to take care of one dependent person.
According to Dr Nguyen Dinh Cu from the Institute for Population and Social Studies, the current percentage of children under 15 in the Vietnamese population stands at nearly 24 percent, while the proportion of people in the working age group is 66 percent.
At a recent conference held in Hanoi to discuss human resource development during the golden demographic period, experts noted that such a demographic structure is rare in any country’s history.
This structure can last for a maximum of 40 years and help make significant changes in the country’s development, if it is used wisely.
Yet, concerns have been raised over the pressure to create more jobs for the youth and the need to produce a better-trained workforce.
Dr Nguyen Sinh Cuc from the Statistics Association claimed the fact that the majority of the population is in the working age group does not mean all the people in this group are employed.
He also said that while the Vietnamese workforce is young and willing to work, a large proportion of it comprises manual or unskilled workers. This poses a challenge to the authorities for improving the quality of the country’s human resources.
“To produce a high-quality workforce to meet the present and future demand, we need a stable foundation with a set of good policies in place, good public healthcare and social insurance and an improved quality of education.”
Cuc pointed out, however, that the national budget allocation for these important sectors is not sufficient. The country’s infrastructure is of average standard compared with other countries in the region.
While international integration has been viewed as a great opportunity for Vietnamese workers – an Asean economic community (AEC) will be formed by the end of 2015 – it is also a great challenge as they will face competition from young foreign workers, according to Dang Ngoc Dinh, director of the Centre for Community Support Development Studies under the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations.
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