Viet Nam plans to create 10 million
jobs in the next five years. Under the National
Target Programme on Job Creation and Skills Training, about 1.6
million jobs will be created a year, including 80,000-100,000 positions
overseas.

People look for jobs at a job fair in HCM City. (Photo: VNS)

According to the
Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), the
programme has a total budget of VND53,3 trillion (US$2.73 billion), of which
more than VND38,1 trillion ($1.95 billion) comes from the central Government and
the remainder from local governments, international donors, a national fund to
support employment and other sources.

Nguyen
Dai Dong, director general of the
ministry’s Employment Department, said at present Viet Nam had a
total of 49.3 million workers who accounted for 57.2 per cent of the population.

“About
50 per cent of the working people are in the 15-34 age group,” Dong said, adding
that young people often lacked working skills.

This
meant that the unemployment rate among unskilled young people was double that of
their peers with skills in urban areas.

According to Dong, to make sure the five-year
target was achieved, his
ministry would provide training for
10 million people.

“After
finishing their training, we hope at least 70 per cent of them will be able to
find jobs,” said Dong.”Much progress has been recorded in vocational training,
yet there are many limitations, particularly in high-level skills.”

Deputy
Labour Minister Dam Huu Dac said he was happy with what had been achieved in
vocational training in recent years.

He said
that in 2001 there were 140 vocational schools and 166 vocational centres. In
2008 this increased to 240 secondary vocational schools, 92 vocational colleges
and 750 vocational centres.

In 2001,
there were more than 887,000 people attending vocational training courses. In
2008, the figure increased to almost 1.5 million people.

Dac said
in the past few years, the
ministry had organised many courses tailored to fit specific
needs of employers.

In
addition, it had also organised training courses for farmers to help them create
jobs for themselves.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Thanh Hoa said in the next five years the
ministry would focus more on
training people in rural areas, particularly the poor.

“To make
sure the
target of 10 million new jobs is met in the next five years, it
is imperative for the
ministry to reform existing vocational schools and their
curricula,” said Hoa.

“We have
to organise more training for rural workers, increase the number of people
having access to the national fund to expand business – and send more guest
workers abroad.”

In the
last five years, about 8 million jobs have been created, of which more than 90
per cent were in the non-State sector.

In 1992,
the National Fund to Support Employment was established and now has more than
VND3,755 billion ($193 million). It operates in all the 63 cities and provinces
nationwide.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News