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14.5% more jobs could be provided by 2025 in Vietnam

HA NOI (VNS) — Viet Nam's participation in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) will create 14.5 per cent more jobs by 2025, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) found in a survey.

Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Doan Mau Diep said at a workshop yesterday in Ha Noi that the AEC, formed on December 31, 2015, will help energise the bloc's labour market and job creation in each member nation.

A considerable benefit from the AEC is the free movement of skilled labour. Through mutual recognition arrangements, the 10 ASEAN countries have allowed labourers in eight professions (doctors, dentists, nurses, accountants, surveyors, architects, engineers and tourism professionals) to seek employment freely within the bloc. The number of professions could increase in the near future.

However, due to the current development gap, skillful labourers tend to move to more developed countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Most of the remaining workers seeking jobs in the other nations have low qualifications, posing challenges for Vietnam in developing, stablising and managing the domestic labour market, Diep said.

According to the ILO survey, ASEAN businesses are concerned about a shortage of skilled labour after the AEC's establishment. About 50 per cent of ASEAN employers said that neither manual workers nor those with university degrees satisfied job qualification requirements.

Facing that fact, Government agencies, policy makers and enterprises must pay special attention to improving human resources' competitiveness, supporting the free flow of skilled labour and managing overseas workers, workshop participants said.

To share prosperity and ensure better employment, many attendees stressed the need to promote connectivity within and outside of ASEAN, effectively shift economic and labour structures, capitalise on competitive edges, improve manpower quality, and deftly manage the labour market.

Additionally, it is necessary to fine-tune legal documents to protect employment for Vietnamese labourers, and effectively use foreign workers with high qualifications. Deputy Director of the labour ministry's Employment Department Le Quang Trung urged the enhancement of law dissemination and co-ordination among State agencies in foreign worker management. — VNS