International briefing 18:training and development in

Vietnam

Nguyen Ngoc Thang andTruong Quang

Vietnam provides a typical case of an emerging economy,which has attempted to develop the country and join the worldeconomic mainstream with a highly agricultural base, largeand young labour force, and a dynamically growing privatesector. After a long period of quantitative growth, it is nowfocusing on achieving quality of development, with a view tobalance economic growth and quality of life improvement forits population. Education has been chosen to be the key plankin the successful implementation of this strategy. This articlereviews the general socio-economic background of the country,the high need for skilled labour, the structure of its educationalsystem, the pitfalls at the high education level, and its strategyto overhaul the whole system in order to ensure quality fromthe input phase of the development process.

Basic data about the countryTopology

Vietnam is located in the eastern part of the Indochina peninsula, bordering China tothe north, Laos and Cambodia to the west, with a long land border of 4550 km, andfacing the Eastern Sea (South China Sea) and the Pacific to the east and to the south. Onthe map, Vietnam is an S-shaped, long strip of land, stretching from 23°23′ to 8°27′north latitude. The country’s total length is 1650 km. Its width, stretching from theeastern coast to the western border, is 500 km at its widest and 50 km at its narrowest.

❒ Nguyen Ngoc Thang, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University,Hoveniersberg 24, B9000 Ghent, Belgium. Email: Thang.Nguyen@UGent.be. Truong Quang, AssociateProfessor of Organizational Behavior, Maastricht School of Management, Endepolsdomein 150, 6229 EPMaastricht, the Netherlands. Email: truong@msm.nl

International Journal of Training and Development 11:2ISSN 1360-3736

© 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2QD,UK and 350 Main St., Malden, MA 02148, USA.

Training and development in Vietnam 139

Three quarters of Vietnam is made up of low mountains and hilly regions. Regionswith elevations below 1000 m above sea level make up 85 per cent of the country.Mountainous regions over 2000 m above sea level account for only 1 per cent. Mountainranges and hills form a bow 1400 km in length facing the Eastern Sea from the north-west to the southeast. The highest mountain ranges are all located in the west andnorthwest of the country. A quarter of Vietnam is covered by deltas separated in manyregions by mountains and hills. There are two major deltas, which are the Red Riverdelta (in the north) covering 16,700 sq km, and the Mekong River delta (in the south)covering 40,000 sq km.

Population

Vietnam had 83.1 million inhabitants in 2005. The population of Vietnam rose graduallyfrom 1990 to 2005 at approximately 1 per cent each year. The male proportion was 49.1per cent and the female 50.9 per cent according to the census of 2005. The annualgrowth rate of population was 1.33 per cent in 2005 (GOS, 2005).

The Vietnamese (Kinh) comprise 90 per cent of the population and the Chinese 3 percent. Other ethnic groups make up 7 per cent of the total, including Man, Muong, Meo,Tay, Nung, Dao and Khmer. Urban dwellers accounted for 26.9 per cent of the totalpopulation in 2005. The average population density was 252 persons/sq km in 2004,one of the highest in the world.

Economy

Vietnam embarked on the Doi Moi (renovation) policy in 1986 after the sudden collapseof the Soviet bloc. Since then, the country has experienced radical changes, first andforemost in its fundamental economic thinking. The centrally planned economy à-la-Soviet was replaced by a market economy, albeit with socialist character, which startedwith a sweeping restructuring of the state-owned sector. This allowed the private sectorto join the economy and it facilitated the process of full integration into the region andworld mainstream. During 20 years of Doi Moi, the gross domestic product (GDP) ofVietnam has seen sustained growth. The rate of increase was 8.2 per cent each year onaverage in the 1991–1995 period compared with 3.9 per cent during 1986–1990. This ratetemporarily dropped to 7.5 per cent during 1996–2000 due to the impact of the Asianfinancial crisis. Since 2001, however, the rate of growth of GDP has recovered on ayear-on-year basis, reaching 8.4 per cent in 2005, one of the highest in the region andsecond only to China (GOS, 2005).

Foreign trade and international economic integrationThe ‘open door’ policy has opened up new opportunities for Vietnam to make full useof its inherent comparative advantages, notably relatively untapped natural resourcesand an abundant and low-cost workforce. These advantages are being exploited to raiseVietnam’s exports, which helps generate an increasing flow of foreign income foreconomic growth and industrialization. Over the years of the Doi Moi process, Viet-nam’s export growth has averaged 20 per cent to reach US$26 billion in 2004 andUS$32.23 billion in 2005. Vietnam also signed an economic and trade cooperationagreement with the European Union in 1992, joined the Association of Southern AsianNations (ASEAN) in 1995, the ASEAN Free Trade Area in 1996 and the organization forAsia-Pacific Economic Co-operation in 1998. A bilateral trade agreement with theUnited States was entered into in 2000 and Vietnam gained full membership of theWorld Trade Organization (WTO) in October 2006.

Foreign direct investmentIn December 1987, the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Law of Vietnam was introducedto help provide the basic legal framework for foreign investment activities in thecountry. This law was amended and supplemented several times, notably in 1996 and2002. It created a more open and attractive environment to draw foreign investors into

140 International Journal of Training and Development© 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

the industries Vietnam most needed, such as export-oriented processing and manufac-turing, and into key economic zones of the country. In recent times, the country hasdrawn significant inflows of FDI. From negligible amounts in 1986, FDI into Vietnamreached US$3.2 billion in 1997. As result of the negative impact of the 1997 Asianfinancial crisis, the FDI flow saw a sharp drop to US$1.58 billion in 1999. Since then,Vietnam has enjoyed a remarkable recovery, to US$2.6 billion in 2001, US$4.1 billion in2004 and US$5.8 billion in 2005. FDI not only generates profits for foreign investors, butalso represents an important capital source, which brings in technology transfer andadvanced managerial skills. In addition, FDI has created tens of thousands of jobs andraised the level of professional skills of Vietnamese workers and managers.

Political system

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a one-party state. The Communist Party of Vietnamrepresents the ‘working class’ and oversees all activities of the country, with thesupport of mass organizations such as the Fatherland Front, the Youth Union andWomen Union.

According to the country’s constitution, the National Assembly holds the supremelegislative power in governing the country. It has 450 members elected by the peoplefor a five-year term. Normally, the National Assembly is convened biannually todiscuss and pass laws.

The State President is the head of the state apparatus and is elected by the NationalAssembly from its deputies to represent the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in domesticand foreign affairs, head the armed forces and take charge of the position of Chairmanof the Security and National Defence Council. The term of office of the State Presidentcoincides with that of the Chairman of the National Assembly.

The Government is the executive body. It administers the implementation of theState’s affairs in the fields of politics, economics, culture, society, national defence andsecurity and foreign relations. The Government also includes a Prime Minister, who isa deputy and has the same term of office as the National Assembly.

Public policy, strategy and the educational systemPublic policy on education

The Vietnamese government has identified education as a foremost national policybecause highly qualified human resources (HR) are considered one of the importantdriving forces to accelerate the industrialization and modernization process and lay thebasic ground for social development and rapid, sustainable economic growth (MPI,2001). The socio-economic strategic plan for 2001–2010 encourages universities, col-leges, vocational schools and companies to train and improve the quality of graduates,workers, technicians and professional staff. The government not only offers special taxreductions and other fiscal incentives for companies to invest in training, but alsoreserves funds to send out people to developed countries for training and research. Tothis effect, the percentage of the State budget devoted to education increased from 8 percent in 1990 to 15 per cent in 2000 (MOET, 2001). The education development strategicplan for 2001–2010 concentrates particularly on international cooperation in educationand training. It especially encourages foreign investors to set up education institutionswith 100 per cent foreign-owned capital or joint ventures with Vietnamese partners inhigher education and vocational training. The increasing numbers enrolling in highereducation and professional training often exceed the capacity of all existing institutionscombined. In the academic year 2005–2006, there were 453,000 vocational students and1,404,000 higher education students. The number of higher education students per10,000 of the population increased from 118 in 2000 to 169 in 2005 (GOS, 2005). Thanksto continued efforts in social and educational areas, the Human Development Indexranking of Vietnam in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) hasimproved from 112th (out of 177) in 2004 to 109th in 2005 (UNDP, 2006). In this regard,Vietnam has generally positioned itself in the leading group of members in ASEAN.

Training and development in Vietnam 141© 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Nevertheless, in facing highly competitive world markets, as Vietnam now does as aresult of its economic integration with the rest of the world, Vietnamese workersusually find themselves in a disadvantageous position. The quality of education isbelieved to be low, the practical skills and creative ability of graduates are limited andmany workers still lack adequate on-the-job training. Many are subject to frequentovertime and low wages. One of the most critical issues is the availability and qualifi-cations of current teaching staff in higher education. The faculty/student ratio of 1:29 isbelieved to be poor by regional and world standards (GOS, 2005). In addition, the totalnumber of professors and associate professors was 7192 in 2006, with 80 per cent ofprofessors and 30 per cent of associate professors over 60 years old (Anh, 2006).

In the hope of improving the skills of workers and graduates, the Vietnamese gov-ernment has recently launched two new HR development programmes, investing atotal of US$20.7 million in the training of gifted students between 2004 and 2011 (Gross& Weintraub, 2005). The programmes aim to train students in the areas of management,technology and business. For instance, top graduates, aged 22–30, studying businessmanagement, economics or law will be eligible to enrol in postgraduate programmes inmanagement and will go on to serve as middle managers when they enter the work-force. Another project (valued US$11–45 million) will be provided in the form ofstate-funded and internationally provided scholarships (Gross & Weintraub, 2005).

In addition, the Vietnamese government has also approved a programme aimed atimproving HR skills in small and medium-sized businesses through special trainingcourses (from 2004–2008). The programme will help companies and individualsincrease their competitive edge and provide start-up business owners with knowledgethey need to expand in Vietnam and abroad. The programme offers three types oftraining courses:

• a five-day training course offering information about laws and policies, productionstrategies, and how to set up a company (Judge & Levine, 1997);

• a seven-day course focusing on improving human resource management (HRM),marketing, finances and technology skills (World Bank, 1997); and

• a 14-day course training business people in consulting and marketing (Gross &Weintraub, 2005).

The education system

The education system in Vietnam has been built at all levels from pre-school educationto doctorate training. The system had been dominated by public and formal schools,but there are now some private schools, different forms of informal education, openlearning, distance education, and joint ventures with foreign institutions (MOET, 2001).As a general practice, tuition fees are payable at primary, college or university level inall non-public schools, colleges and universities. Non-public universities do not train atpost-graduate and doctoral level. Nearly all the pupils continue their education tolower- and upper-secondary level. Professional secondary schools (from 3–4 years) andvocational training schools (1–3 years) train young people to become potentially skilledworkers. Colleges and universities provide programmes at bachelor or engineeringlevel, but only universities provide programmes at master’s (2 years) and doctoral level(2–4 years). Figure 1 describes the current Vietnamese education system in more detail.

The Vietnamese government considers vocational training as one of the main tasks ofeducation and HR development because the majority of jobs most needed in Vietnam’stransitional economy relate to technical skills. The growing economy needs qualifiedworkers. At the same time the employment problem has become more critical. Annually,over 1 million new workers need jobs. There is an urgent need to improve the quality ofVietnamese workers at all levels of the labour structure. It is reported that only 20 percent of the population of working age had vocational education or training and thateducation is not linked strongly with practical and organizational needs (MOET, 2001).Up to 80 per cent of graduate students have to be retrained by employers to match jobrequirements. The shortage of qualified workers in sectors with opportunities for

142 International Journal of Training and Development© 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

growth and employment has a negative impact on the quality of production processesand endangers the growth strategies of companies. Vocational education development ischallenged both from a supply and demand perspective. On the supply side, there hasbeen and there continues to be a shortage of faculty, facilities, equipment, materials andpractical training programmes. On the demand side, many students consider thatvocational education lacks the prestige attributable to a university education in a societywhere education is still regarded as the biggest investment any parents should make fortheir children. University education is seen by many relatively poor people as openingdoors to a better life for the next generation. Consequently, many will not pursue avocational education in favour of a college or university degree even though unemploy-ment among college and university graduates is extremely high. The percentage ofstudents enrolling into professional secondary and vocational schools is still small andis increasing only slowly. This has caused a huge imbalance in the labour market inVietnam and poses a serious test to the sustainable development of the country.

To deal with these issues, the Vietnamese government has implemented severalpolicies and designed specific programmes to reform the education and trainingsystem. According to Vietnam’s General Office of Statistics, there were 236 vocationalschools, 404 vocational training centres and more than 1000 education establishmentsin Vietnam engaging in vocational training during 2001–2005. Altogether, they pro-vided training for 5.4 million people and helped to increase the rate of workersundergoing vocational training to nearly 20 per cent of the total workforce. Vietnam hasset a target of generating jobs for 8 million people, 40 per cent of whom are expected toundergo training between 2006 and 2010. The country plans also to increase thenumber of vocational schools nationwide to 1050 by 2010. Improved vocational trainingfor workers in the export sector is viewed as a major factor in raising national incomeand reducing unemployment.

Nursery

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Primary (5 years)

Lower secondary (4 years)

Non-formal

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Upper secondary(3 years)

Professionalsecondary(3–4 years)

Vocation trainingLong term (1–3years)Short term (<1 year)

College education(3 years)

Universityeducation(4–6 years)

Doctor of philosophy(2–4 years)

Master(2 years)

Age

Figure 1: The Vietnamese education system (MOET, 2003).

Training and development in Vietnam 143© 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

There are 255 universities and colleges (GOS, 2005) in Vietnam accommodatingapproximately 1,000,000 students at any given time. This figure includes a number ofjunior colleges but excludes institutions under the Ministry of Defence and the Min-istry of Foreign Affairs. The junior college sector now consists of teachers’ colleges andtechnical, vocational and training colleges offering courses in areas such as agriculture,health, fine arts, banking and policy studies. In addition, a sector that is growingquickly in Vietnam is that providing foreign education programmes run either entirelyby foreign universities or through cooperation between a foreign and a Vietnameseinstitution. Some of these programmes include master of business administration,other master’s degrees and undergraduate programmes. Foreign institutions thatbecome more involved in the local education market are encouraged to develop train-ing programmes for scientists, technicians, managers and experts in economics, tech-nology, natural sciences, the environment and culture (MOET, 2001).

There are four broad types of universities in Vietnam, two of which are moretraditional forms, meaning that they rely on classroom lectures as their principalmedium of instruction. The first of this type are the ‘specialized universities’, each ofwhich focuses on a single area of study, such as economics, engineering, fine arts orlaw. The second are the ‘multi-disciplinary universities’, including five newly estab-lished national and regional universities in some of Vietnam’s largest cities. At present,the national universities offer bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programmes, whereasthe regional universities offer bachelor’s, master’s and other college-level programmes.The third kind of university is the ‘open university’ system in Hanoi and HochiminhCity. The state budgets subsidize a great part of the operating costs in these publicuniversities, and the tuition fees collected from students contribute to the rest ofoperating costs. The fourth type of university is the non-public university. There aretwo kinds of non-public university: the semi-public (ban cong) university and private(dan lap) university. As officially defined, the semi-public university is owned by thestate and managed by a public authority at the central, provincial, district or communelevel, whereas the private is owned and managed by private individuals. The operatingcosts of non-public universities are fully covered by student fees. All students canobtain funds for their study in the form of scholarships, financial aid given by certainorganizations or loans from banks.

With a longer term strategic aim, the government’s focus on the development ofeducation and training in Vietnam becomes more and more related to increasingeducational coverage, changing educational content and directing scarce resourcestowards their optimal use. The aim is to provide graduates with the skills necessary toperform effectively in a shifting and developing labour market. A major reformdesigned to further these objectives is the development of a ‘non-public’ system ofeducation to parallel the public system. Because of public finance constraints and thenumber of students in need of an education, the MOET has encouraged the establish-ment of more private universities. In addition, the Ministry has also proposed thatsome state-owned schools in major urban areas be privatized to reduce the burden onthe state budget. It is providing incentives to encourage the development of the privatesector.

Corporate training and development policies and strategiesAfter more than 20 years of economic reforms, Vietnam’s economy has made consider-able achievements in growing industrial output and services. The number of private andforeign companies has been increased in a short period of time. The development ofindustries, especially the export-oriented and labour-intensive sectors such as textilesand garments, footwear, fishing and aquaculture, employ a large amount of labour.Employment directly generated by FDI, for example, well-paid jobs in industrial parksand export-processing zones, has caused a flow of migrant labour from rural to urbanareas, from agricultural regions to industrial parks, from low-income to high-incomeareas. On a comparative basis, however, Vietnamese labour remains relatively abundantand inexpensive but many companies are faced with a chronic shortage of skilled

144 International Journal of Training and Development© 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

workers. As a result of Vietnam becoming a member of the WTO in November 2006,there is expected to be a surge in foreign direct investment and international trade, whichwill undoubtedly lead to much higher growth in labour demand.

Most Vietnamese companies recognize the importance of training and developmentfor their success, but they face problems in funding these activities. More often thannot, employers decide upon other investment priorities (such as technological change)rather than training and developing people, which leaves employees with no choicebut to seek self-development in vocational schools, colleges and universities. However,the quality of education in general is not adequate, often failing to meet regional andworld standards or the actual needs of the companies. The majority of graduates arecritically limited in practical skills and in the ability to adapt to professional work, workdiscipline and teamwork. To close this gap, private and state-owned enterprises havebegan to reserve a larger proportion of their budget for employee training, and the statehas put more emphasis on vocational training programmes. In these schemes, incen-tives are offered to enterprises to encourage in-house training for their employees.Exemption of taxes related to training is permitted as is subsidized credit for newlyestablished training institutions (Vietnam’s Law of Education, 1998). The latter allowsthe payment of tax to be credited and the money to be used instead for the purchase oftraining equipment and related items. Training vouchers and scholarships are availableto persons who want to undertake particular courses and these financial measures aredirected at particular students rather than at the institutions (UNIDO, 1999). Indeed,the practice of the dual system of training in both schools and enterprises has beenquite successful because theory and basic skills can be more efficiently taught in schoolsand institutions whereas advanced technical and practical skills are better learned inthe workplace. Accordingly, corporate training and development in Vietnam is to bedivided into three key groups.

The first group comprises state-owned enterprises, which provide training for 96 percent of incumbent employees and 62 per cent of new employees (Quang & Dung, 1998).Through training, employees will upgrade their technical and problem-solving skills,and some training courses motivate employees’ working spirit and improve employ-ees’ behaviour. Because these enterprises are mainly large companies, they have HRdepartments and the HR manager works closely with top management in formulatingcorporate policy.

The second group contains joint-venture companies and foreign-owned companies,which tend to provide more training for employees than is provided by state-ownedenterprises. Foreign investors recognize the lack of skills and qualifications inVietnam’s labour force. Therefore, training and retraining the Vietnamese labour forceis seen as imperative. The quality of Vietnam’s labour force must be enhanced in anumber of different ways, including vocational training, foreign languages capability,health and industrial discipline. Modern training facilities with professional teachers,including joint ventures with expatriates wherever needed, must provide an increasingpool of skilled workers to meet the current critical shortage (which contrasts with ahuge, untrained and underemployed labour force in rural areas). The companies in thisgroup often seek collaboration with education institutions or consultancy companies toorganize short courses for their managers or potential managers (Quang, 1997). Thetraining provided concentrates more on behavioural, technical and professional skills.

The third group comprises small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). As in otherdeveloping countries, small companies in Vietnam seldom have formal HR depart-ments and HRM specialists. Rather, other managers handle HR functions. The focus oftheir activities is generally on hiring and retaining capable employees because they lackinternal resources for training their employees. The training of high-level and skilledlabour for SMEs is an important focus of Vietnamese government policy.

Training and development in practiceThe development of a modern and efficient labour market will be of paramountimportance to Vietnam in its attempt to increase economic growth and competitive-

Training and development in Vietnam 145© 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

ness. Whereas labour issues are always major socio-economic concerns for any country,perhaps no problem is more pressing in Vietnam today than providing employment.The unemployment rate in Vietnam was 5.3 per cent in 2005 (GOS, 2005). However,because of the crop structure, the problem in rural areas is seasonal underemploymentrather than open unemployment. In response to this challenge, the Vietnamese gov-ernment is now implementing a more effective policy, which recognizes the strength ofthe need for HR development and the need to open up the labour market to all sectors.This is an attempt to reform the whole of the education and training system to meet thenew conditions of the integration era.

On the one hand, the country should be able to absorb about 1 million new entrantsto the labour market every year (Gross & Weintraub, 2005). On the other hand, thequality of delivery of the current educational system has become a public concern. Ithas been described as ‘backward and obsolete’ (MOET, 2001). Vietnam’s labour force isseen as excessive in number but far less competitive in productivity and managementthan world standards. There are only a limited number of good, professional managersto meet a fast-growing demand for qualified personnel, and the competition for suchworkers is becoming increasingly fierce. Consequently, training in the workplace isquickly organized in many companies to cope with this situation, but mostly it remainsuncoordinated and poorly structured. In addition, the market for job-oriented traininghas been developed at a very fast pace, but is largely in the hands of governmentagencies, without much participation from the more dynamic and creative privatesector.

Vietnam’s recent accession to the WTO will force local enterprises to boost theirchance of survival by renovating physical infrastructure, improving productivity andmaximizing returns from available resources, including human resources. However, alarge number of enterprise managers do not have the theoretical background, theexperience and the overall competences needed to run an enterprise in a competitivemarket economy environment. A comprehensive programme should, therefore, beimplemented with the overall purpose of raising the standards of management in thecountry. The programme should focus on raising the quality of academic teaching atthe university level and, simultaneously, focus on significantly increasing the oppor-tunities of existing managers to upgrade their business management skills. There istoday, however, only a limited number of good-quality, internationally funded businessmanagement courses in Vietnam, although universities and consulting companies areincreasingly providing special courses on business and management skills (UNIDO,1999).

Vocational education in Vietnam is offered in secondary vocational and technicalschools. Most of the vocational education and training takes place in short-termin-service programmes offered by vocational training centres managed at the provin-cial level by various government agencies. A special form of vocational training isshort-term courses for the specific training needs of particular enterprises. Thesecourses take place either in the enterprises or in vocational schools close by andconcentrate on technical skills.

According to the study by Quang and Dung (1998), although every HR departmentmay coordinate training activities, actual training is usually conducted by the respec-tive line managers, especially with regard to on-the-job training. For the year 2000, thenumber of workers receiving on-the-job training accounted for 23 per cent of the totalworkforce (RCFL, 2002). Categories of staff involved in training include managerial,technical, professional, skilled, manual or indirect staff. The trainers can be eithersupervisors or peers. However, in some cases, training is done by other organizations,universities or external consultants because the companies do not have trainers orfacilities for training. In addition, consulting companies are more experienced andprofessional in training employees. Many companies encourage their employees toattend short courses relevant to the company’s needs.

Regardless of whether or not programmes are provided by external or internaltraining, a number of methods are used to impart information and skills to managersand operatives. On-the-job-training includes coaching and mentoring and is provided

146 International Journal of Training and Development© 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

at the workplace. It is widely used in companies in Vietnam (Quang & Dung, 1998). Thisapproach to training and development is one in which a trainee is given an opportunityto learn on a one-to-one basis from an experienced organizational member. The expe-riences provided must teach the individual to be flexible and adaptive and to have abroad perspective. These characteristics, along with the ability to value and use diver-sity, are essential in today’s environment. The use of videotapes and workbooks/manuals continues to be a popular training method in many companies. This methodmay be especially appealing to small businesses that cannot afford more expensiveapproaches. In addition, the method provides flexibility. Other methods used to trainemployees include business games, case studies, job rotation, simulation, computer-based training and vestibule training. (The last named is where actual productionfacilities are replicated away from the production area, for example, in a training centre,in order to teach practical skills without the training being subjected to the day-to-daypressure of production).

Academic work in the training and development fieldGiven the new conditions of development and integration, HRM has become moreimportant in Vietnam. Many firms have been implementing HRM strategies that con-centrate on the development of their HR because HR can be a primary source and playa central role in terms of sustainable competitive advantage. HR development is notonly the key leading to the success of individual firms, at the micro level, but alsocontributes to attracting FDI and boosting economic growth of the country at the macrolevel. Leading educational institutions and universities have responded to these devel-opments. For instance, the Hanoi National Economics University (NEU) has recentlyopened two departments in the field of labour economics and HRM. The new studyareas include research and training programmes that pay attention to corporate train-ing and development, labour issues, labour markets and policies on HR development.Similarly, the Business School of NEU has developed and delivered several executiveeducation programmes on HR management. These programmes are specificallydesigned to help develop a new generation of competent and competitive Vietnamesemanagers. Through the use of interactive simulations, case studies and mini-seminars,the participants are challenged to think critically and practically. The techniques andmaterials used are drawn from programmes worldwide and have been adapted to theoperating environment, culture and challenges of contemporary Vietnam. Participantscompleting these programmes will not only gain HRM skills but also develop thecompetence to apply them to the real situation in their companies. In addition, theHanoi University of Commerce has been cooperating with Toulon University, France ina bachelor’s training programme on HR management in SMEs. The Royal MelbourneInstitute of Technology in Vietnam offers both short-term and long-term courses thatcan be tailored to client-specific HRM requirements. After completion of these pro-grammes, most of the first batch of graduates started work in the field of corporateHRM; a smaller number joined government agencies as labour market analysts (NEU,2005).

Research institutes have also been focusing on HR in particular forecasting, needsassessment and the delivery of training and development in order to meet the actualneeds of companies and the economy. Other work has concentrated on training anddevelopment in the field of enterprise management to meet the requirements of eco-nomic integration and the impact of training for various aspects of the economy. Morespecifically, the National Institute for Education Strategy and Curriculum Developmenthas been carrying out research on training methods and HR training for companies.The Institute of Labor and Social Affairs Studies and General Department of VocationalTraining have focused on vocational training, worker training and professional skills.The Central Institute for Economic Management has taken part in some studies onworker training in specific industries. The Hanoi National Economics University hasalso conducted research into training and development.

Training and development in Vietnam 147© 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

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148 International Journal of Training and Development© 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Academic correspondents in Vietnam

National Institute for Education Strategy and Curriculum Development, 101 TranHung Dao, Hanoi, Vietnam. Email: pqlkh@hn.vnn.vn

Central Institute for Economic Management, 68 Phan Dinh Phung, Hanoi, Vietnam.Email: tttl@ciem.org.vn

Institute of Labor and Social Affairs Studies, 2 Dinh Le, Hanoi, Vietnam. Email:insavn@hn.vnn.vn

General Department of Vocational Training, 37B Nguyen Binh Khiem, Hanoi, Vietnam.Email: tapchildxh@molisa.gov.vn

Hanoi National Economics University, 207 Giai Phong, Hanoi, Vietnam, Email:bsneu@bsneu.edu.vn

ReferencesAnh, H. (2006), ‘80 percent of professors of Vietnam 60 years old’, Vietnam Net. Available

at http://www.vietnamnet.vn/service/printversion.vnn?article_id=860450 (accessed 6November 2006).

GOS, General Office of Statistics (2005), Education, Health, Culture and Living Standards Report(Hanoi, Vietnam: Statistics House).

Gross, A. and Weintraub, R. (2005), Vietnam Human Resources Update (Wisconsin: Pacific Bridge,Inc.).

Judge, M. and Levine, J. (1997), ‘Good fences, bad neighbors’, Vietnam Business Journal, 24, 12, 24.MOET, Ministry of Education and Training (2001), The Vietnam Education Development Strategic

Plan for 2001–10, 2001 (Hanoi, Vietnam: Education Publishing House).MOET, Ministry of Education and Training (2003), ‘The Vietnam Educational System, 2003’,

Website of Ministry of Education and Training. Available at http://edu.net.vn/data/doc/hethonggiaoduc/.

MPI, Ministry of Planning and Investment (2001), ‘The socio-economic development strategy inthe period of 2001–10’.

NEU, National Economics University (2005), Statistic of Faculty of Economics for Labor and Popula-tion (Hanoi: NEU).

Quang, T. (1997), ‘Sustainable economic growth and human resource development in Vietnam’,Transitions, 38, (1 & 2), 255–80.

Quang, T. and Dung, H. K. (1998), ‘Human resource development in state-owned enterprises inVietnam’, Research and Practice in Human Resource Management, 6, 1, 85–103.

RCFL, Research Center for Female Labour (2002), Female workers of Vietnam’s garment and textileindustry in the context of trade liberalization. Unpublished paper.

UNDP (2006), Human Development Report (Vietnam: Country Fact Sheets).UNIDO (1999), ‘Industrial competitiveness review report’. Unpublished report submitted to

Vietnam Ministry of Planning and Investment.World Bank (1997), ‘Vietnam Deepening Reform for Growth’, Report No. 17031-VN (Washington,

DC: World Bank).

Training and development in Vietnam 149© 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.