Summary of thesis doctor of economics developing the human resources of vietnam in the formation of the asean economic community (AEC)

ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES PHAM THANH HIEN DEVELOPING THE HUMAN RESOURCES OF VIETNAM IN THE FORMATION OF THE ASEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY (AEC) Major: International economics Code: 9.31.01.06 SUMMARY OF THESIS: DOCTOR OF ECONOMICS Hanoi - 2021 The work has been completed at: GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL Science tutor: Assoc Prof Tran Thi Lan Huong Assoc Prof Tran Thi Lan Huong Counter-argument 1: Assoc Prof Chu Duc Dung Counter-argument 2: Assoc Prof Doan Ke Bon Counter-argument 3: Assoc Prof Bui Tat Thang The thesis was defended in the eyes of Ph.D Examination Council, held at the Graduate Academy of Social Sciences, 477 Nguyen Trai, Thanh Xuan, Hanoi At: …., on …date… Month…year 2020 The thesis can be found at: National Library Graduate Academy of Social Sciences Library LIST OF PUBLISHED WORKS Pham Thanh Hien (2017), “Opportunities and challenges for human resources of Vietnam in the context of the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community”, Labor and Trade Unions Magazine, p.14, Volume 618 Tran Thi Lan Huong, Pham Thanh Hien (2018), "Vietnam's labor export to East Asian countries and ASEAN Economic Community (AEC)", International Workshop of Van Hien University with the theme "Investment cooperation between East Asian countries - Vietnam and the issue of training human resources, creating jobs for employees.", University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City Publishing House Pham Thanh Hien (2019), “Evaluation of the integration of human resources of Vietnam after three years of joining the ASEAN Economic Community”, Asia-Pacific Economic Review, p.79, Volume 537 Pham Thanh Hien (2020), "Evaluation of the quality of human resources of Vietnam in the context of the integration of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC)", Asia-Pacific Economic Review, p.4, Volume 565 Pham Thanh Hien (2020 "Thailand's human resource development policy in forming the ASEAN Economic Community and lessons for Vietnam", Journal of Education and Society, p.344, special volume of April, 2020 INTRODUCTION The urgency of the topic Association of Southeast Asian Nations, abbreviated as ASEAN is a regional cooperation organization of politics, economy, culture and society of Southeast Asian countries with ten members including Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Philippines, Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand and Singapore In 1997, the idea of establishing an ASEAN Community was introduced by the leaders in the ASEAN Vision 2020 with the aim of creating a stable, prosperous, and highly competitive economic region towards the formation of an integrated, resilient ASEAN Community in 2020 with three main pillars of political-security cooperation (ASEAN Security Community - ASC), economic cooperation (ASEAN Economic Community - AEC) and cooperation socio-cultural cooperation (ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Then the Cebu Declaration (December 2006) shortened the time to form the AEC by five years compared to the original plan (from five) 2020 to 2015) The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) was officially established and put into operation on December 31, 2015 The AEC is a new step in the process of integration and mutual assistance among Southeast Asian countries The AEC aims to create a single market and production base, including a free labor market A series of documents have been signed to realize this goal, such as the ASEAN agreement on the movement of natural persons allowing skilled labor of member countries to freely move within the block, equivalent workmanship recognition agreement of ASEAN in eight fields, the reference framework for ASEAN qualifications The formation of the AEC has opened up for Vietnamese workers the opportunity to freely move around in the region to find jobs, thereby improving their incomes, living standards of themselves and their families, learning experiences, contribute to solving domestic employment problems, promote socio-economic development To grasp the above opportunities, from 2007 up to now, Vietnam has proposed and implemented many policies and activities to develop human resources to help employees participate in the AEC common labor market such as: promulgating national qualification framework based on the ASEAN Qualifications Framework, changing the vocational, university and foreign language training policies However, after more than a decade of development, including more than years of AEC officially put into operation (from December 31, 2015), the number of Vietnamese workers reaching ASEAN qualifications and free labor movement in the AEC is quite modest compared to other countries in the region According to ILO statistics, as of 2019, Vietnam accounts for only a very small proportion of migrant workers in Malaysia (0.1%) and Thailand (0.3%) Singapore (0.01%) [ 110] In the areas of free movement of labor, the profession of engineers and architects has the most positive number of employees at ASEAN level, but only over 200 people, much lower than Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia This shows that the human resources of Vietnam are lagging and miss out on valuable opportunities for integration and development Not only that, if this situation does not quickly improve, Vietnamese workers will even face the risk of losing their jobs in the domestic market when the number of workers in the region moves into Vietnam increase in the future, exacerbate unemployment and a series of other social security problems Therefore, the urgent need is to have in-depth studies, analyze and evaluate the overall situation of human resource development in Vietnam on the basis of comparing with the AEC's commitment to freedom of movement and compare with other countries in the region, thereby proposing solutions to help Vietnamese workers better meet the needs of the AEC, improve their competiing capacity, and then participate more effectively in the labor market the AEC in the near future Stemming from that practical requirement, the research student chose the topic “Developing the human resources of Vietnam in the formation of the Asean Economic Community (AEC)” for the doctoral thesis in economics, majoring in International Economics The thesis's research purposes and tasks 2.1 Research purposes Clarifying the current situation of Vietnam's human resource development to meet the requirements of the integration of the general labor market according to AEC commitments, determining the position of Vietnamese human resources in the region, pointing out the causes, thereby proposing solutions to help Vietnam's human resources increase competiting capacity with the human resources of AEC countries and participating more effectively in the AEC in the coming time 2.2 Research tasks To achieve the above purpose, the thesis implements the following main research tasks: - On the basis of theories related to human resource development and the content of AEC's commitments on freedom of labor movement, systematize and develop a number of theories such as concepts, influencing factors, content, evaluation criteria for human resource development in the condition of AEC formation - Analyzing the situation of human resource development in Vietnam in terms of quantity, quality and structure on the basis of comparing with the labor demand of the AEC and comparing with the AEC member countries From there, we can evaluate the achievements and shortcomings of Vietnamese human resources - Analyzing the causes of the above successes and limitations, combined with the analysis of labor demand trends of the AEC countries in the period 2020 - 2030, proposing a number of solutions to help the human resources of Vietnam to integrate more effectively The thesis's research object and scope 3.1 Research object The thesis focuses on the development of Vietnamese human resources in three angles: quantity, quality and structure, on the basis of comparison with the requirements of general labor market integration according to AEC commitments and comparison with the AEC member countries 3.2 Research scope - In terms of space: studying human resource development in the AEC formation conditions nationwide, with researches and surveys of experiences of a number of ASEAN countries - In terms of time + In the period before the AEC’s formation(from 1/2007 to 31/12/2015): the thesis mainly statistics commitments and preparations for the entry into the common AEC labor market of Vietnam + In the period after the AEC’s formation (from 2016 to the present day), the thesis continues to update and supplement AEC's agreements to promote intra-regional labor movement and policies for human resource development for Vietnamese workers to move more efficiently as well as to be more competitive in the AEC Current situation of human resource development is analyzed in the period from 2010 to 2020, with special focus on the period from 2015 to 2020 Human resource development solutions proposed in the thesis apply to 2030 - In term of content: The thesis is limited to research on human resource development in Vietnam in terms of quantity, quality and structure on the basis of comparing AEC's commitment to freedom of movement and comparison with AEC member countries' human resources, which only focus on reflecting the quality of human resources in terms of mentality with three criteria of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and physical strength that are not in the scope of the study Research methodology and methods of the thesis 4.1 Methodology of dialectical and historical materialism 4.2 Specific research methods: Analysis and synthesis method, statistical method, description and comparison, expert interview method, logical method combining history, data processing method The theoretical and practical significance of the thesis * In terms of theoretical significance: The thesis contributes to add theoretical issues on human resource development in the formation of the AEC, thereby clearly defining the purpose of human resource development when integrating into the labor market The common dynamic of the AEC is to create the change of human resources in terms of quantity; Quality includes knowledge, skills, and attitudes; structures towards meeting the labor demand of the AEC and able to compete with the human resources of the AEC member countries * In terms of practical significance: the thesis provides a comprehensive analysis of the current situation of human resource development in Vietnam in terms of quantity, quality, structure, on the basis of comparison with the general labor market requirements commitments to AEC, and comparies with the human resources of other countries in the region, propose specific solutions to help Vietnam's human resources integrate more effectively and successfully in the common AEC labor market Therefore, the thesis's research results will be valuable as a reference for policy makers, researchers interested in human resource development in general and developing human resources in the formation of the AEC in particular New expected scientific contributions of the thesis Firstly, the thesis has continued to clarify theoretical issues such as concepts and factors affecting the process of human resource development in the formation of the AEC Secindly, building a set of evaluation criteria for human resource development to ensure "AEC characteristic", applied exclusively to the context of labor market regionalization, not stereotyped according to the evaluation criteria for human resource development in general Thirdly, analyzing the current situation of Vietnam's human resource development in terms of quantity, quality (including knowledge, skills, attitudes) and structure on the basis of comparing with AEC's labor needs and comparing with human resources of AEC member countries, thereby evaluating the above successes and limitations, then find out the reasons for them Fourthly, propose solutions from State management agencies, vocational training institutions and universities, and employers to help Vietnamese human resources participate more effectively and increase the competing capacity with the human resources of the AEC countries by 2030 Thesis structure In addition to the Introduction, Conclusion, List of Abbreviations, List of Tables and Figures, List of references, the thesis is structured as follows: Chapter 1: Overview of research related to research topic of the Thesis Chapter 2: Theoretical and practical basis for human resource development of Vietnam in the ASEAN Economic Community Chapter 3: Current situation of human resource development of Vietnam in the ASEAN Economic Community Chapter 4: Prospects and recommendations on human resource development solutions to Vietnam in the ASEAN Economic Community Chapter OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH RELATED TO RESEARCH TOPIC OF THE THESIS 1.1 Overview of research works 1.1.1 Theoretical research on human resources and human resource development Karl Marx, Robet Solow (1956), Robert E Lucas (1988), Theodore W Schultz (1971), Gary Becker (1993), Tran Xuan Cau (2019), D Beg, S Fisher and R Donbush (2002), Chiristian Batal (2002), Bernard Wyne and David Stringer (1997) * Theoretical research on human resource development At the organizational scale: Vu Hoang Ngan, Pham Thi Bich Ngoc (2019), Bui Van Danh (2011) At the national level: Nguyen Huu Long (2007), Nguyen Loc (2010), Vo Xuan Tien (2012) Nguyen Huu Dung (2003) 1.1.2 Research on AEC and the impact of AEC on human resources of ASEAN countries Introduction of AEC: Nguyen Hong Son (2009), Thai Son, Le Nhung, Duy Quang (2015), Nguyen Hong Son, Nguyen Anh Thu (2015), Vo Thanh Tung, Hoang Thi Minh Chau (2019) Separate study on the commitment to free labor movement in the AEC and the impact on human resources of ASEAN countries: ADB, ILO (2014), European Chamber of Commerce, Singapore & European Foundation (2015), WEF (2014), Le My Huong (2019), Nguyen Ba Ngoc et al (2016) Nguyen Ngoc Lan (2015), Nguyen Thi Dieu Hien, Tran Phuong Thao (2017) [Tran Thi Ngoc Quyen, Nguyen Hong Hanh (2019), Martin, P (2014), Papademetriou et al (2016), ILO (2020), ADB (2020) Research on human resource development of ASEAN countries in the condition of forming AEC: UNDP (2014), M.L Puntrik Smiti (2015), Nong Mai Anh, Hoang Thi Kieu Chi (2020), Ismalina, P et al (2014), Salmiaty Taty (2016), Myanmar Marketing Research and Development Center (2014), Yap, J (2014), Dao Thi Thu Trang (2019) 1.1.3 Research on human resource development in Vietnam in AEC * Research on human resource development in Vietnam before AEC was formed: Nguyen Duy Dung (2012), Nguyen Hong Son (2015), Vo Thanh Thu (2014), Pham Thi Ly (2014), ADB and ILO (2014), Bui Thi Minh Tiep (2015), Nguyen Thuong Lang, Tran Duc Thang (2015), Vo Minh Tap (2013), Nguyen Quang Trung (2015), Nguyen Thi Kim Chi (2015) * Research on human resource development in Vietnam after AEC was formed: Indirectly mentioned in the in-depth studies on labor mobility in Vietnam in AEC: Dao Thu Trang (2016), Ha Thi Minh Duc (2019), Wolfgang Form (2016), Mac Van Tien, Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy (2018) Nguyen Quynh Hoa, Pham Tuan Ngoc (2018) Direct research on Vietnam's human resource development in AEC: Trinh Thi Thu Huong (2019), Le Van Hung (2017), Nguyen Thi Dieu Hien, Tran Phuong Thao (2017), Nguyen Huu Hao, Nguyen Thi My Dieu (2016), Le Van Thong (2018), Vu Dinh Anh (2017), Nguyen Quoc Tuan (2018) 1.2 The achieved values and gaps need to be studied 1.2.1 The achieved values The above domestic and abroad studies have provided valuable materials on the human resource development process of Vietnam in the AEC They help graduate students to better understand research issues, suggest research directions and build systems of integrity theory The values of the preceding studies are shown as follows: * Value in theory - Firstly, the research papers have helped the student systematize a number of basic theoretical issues about human resources and human resource development such as concepts, influencing factors, content and roles for social production and economic growth Development of human resources at a national level must be a comprehensive development in terms of quantity, quality and structure of human resources Human resource development is an urgent issue for all countries in the period of national industrialization and modernization and the period of knowledge economy or international economic integration From the above research gaps, the graduate student has chosen the topic “Human resource development in Vietnam in the condition of forming an ASEAN Economic Community” to get an in-depth study of human resource development Vietnam, based on the comparison with the AEC commitment on labor freedom and comparison with the human resources of other countries in the region, to help Vietnamese workers participate more effectively in the market working together with the AEC and maintaining its position in the domestic labor market when the labor of member countries moves in The topic does not coincide with any existing research topic In the topic, the author will inherit and supplement the research values of the predecessors so that the research results are systematic, specialized and up to date Chapter RATIONALE AND EXPERIENCE OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT IN THE ASEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY 2.1 Some human resource development theories and concepts 2.1.1 Theories related to human resource development * Model of assessing the capacity of employees KSA * Labor market theory * Human capital theory (human capital) The above theories are applied by the dissertation in the research process of human resource development in the AEC formation in the following aspects: Firstly, through the KSA model, the dissertation determines that the process of analyzing the quality of human resources in the AEC formation conditions will be performed on three criteria: Knowledge (including social knowledge, professional knowledge) Skills (including practical skills, soft skills, foreign language skills), Attitude (sense of organizational discipline, progress, culture of behavior at work ) Second, the analysis of supply in labor market theory has helped determine the criteria for assessing human resources in terms of quantity such as population, labor force participation rate 10 Thirdly, the process of synthesizing theories has shown factors affecting the process of human resource development in general and human resource development in the economic community in particular, including: associated commitments, state management agencies, educational and training institutions and employers Fourthly, the synthesis of human capital theory and labor market theory shows the important role of human resources in economic growth and development In the context of economic regionalization such as the ASEAN Community, ensuring free labor movement has great significance in narrowing the development gap between countries This comment helps reinforce the urgency and practical significance of the research problem that the dissertation has selected With the above meanings, the above theories are considered as an important basis for the dissertation to carry out specific theoretical studies such as concept, content, influencing factors, evaluation criteria to develop AEC human resources in the AEC 2.1.2 The basic concepts * Human Resources * Human resource development * AEC and human resource development in AEC Human resource development in the AEC is to create a change in quantity, structure and quality, including knowledge, skills and attitudes of the part of the population aged 15 years and older who are capable of, and the demand for labor is to creating human resources that meet the commitments of the AEC on freedom of labor movement and to be competitive with the human resources of the AEC member countries 2.2 Factors affecting human resource development in the condition of AEC 2.2.1 Objective factor * Labor demand of AEC countries * Commitment to freedom of labor movement in the AEC Summarizing the process of learning about commitments of the AEC on free labor movement, some conclusions can be drawn as follows: (1) The AEC allows the freedom of movement of skilled workers, untrained workers who are not in the subjects permitted to move freely 11 (2) AEC is in high demand for labor in two industries and services, in which the service industry has a higher demand (3) In the ranks of AQRF, AEC spends 5/8 steps to assess occupational labor, showing great interest in the indirect labor force (4) The AEC pays special attention to the working skills of the workers in assessing their qualifications (5) MRAs are actually only possible between gums c have the same quality of education and training (6) The level of commitment to freedom of labor movement of the AEC is still quite loose, so the implementation progress will mainly depend on the undertakings, policies and labor situation of each member country * Competition among AEC countries in human resource development 2.2.2 Subjective factors * State management agencies * Educational and training institutions and universities * Employers 2.3 Human resource development content in AEC (1) Increasing the size of human resources capable of meeting the AEC commitments on freedom of movement and competitiveness with workers of the AEC countries This includes ensuring a stable working age population and an increasing size of trained workers (2) Improving the quality of human resources in all aspects: knowledge, skills, and attitudes towards meeting AEC job requirements and approaching regional qualifications (3) Restructuring human resources towards increasing the rate of trained workers; share of workers in industry and services, share of workers in eight committed sectors including engineers, architects, accountants, tourism, surveyors, doctors, dentists, nurses 2.4 Evaluation criteria for human resource development in AEC * Size (quantity) of human resources: Population, population growth rate, population size 15 years or older, size of the trained labor force * The quality of human resources: the quality of human resources is shown through two groups of criteria: 12 Firstly, the group of criteria for assessing the knowledge, skills, and working attitude of employees at work, including the employee's training level, the degree of knowledge deficiency compared to the requirements of the employee recruitment, ranking the set of skills after graduation, reporting on the English proficiency index, comments of businesses on the sense of discipline, responsibility of employees Secondly, the group of criteria for evaluating the quality of human resources on the whole, including: QS, THE, WEF vocational and university training quality ranking; Human Development Index; labor productivity * Human resource structure: proportion of employees by training grades from elementary to postgraduate, proportion of employees by professional and technical qualifications in committed fields, proportion of employees according to economic sector * Vietnam’s labor mobility participation level in the region is in relation to other ASEAN countries 2.5 Experience in human resource development of Thailand and Malaysia in the AEC 2.5.1 Human resource development progress of Thailand and Malaysia according to AEC commitments 2.5.2 Lessons learned about human resource development in AEC - Lessons on defining the role of AEC commitments on the freedom of skilled labor to make human resource development policy adjustments - Lessons on retraining and retraining for the working workforce - Lessons on budgeting for human resource development - Lessons on improving the quality of vocational training and university training - Lessons on training foreign language skills for employees 13 Chapter SITUATION OF VIETNAMESE HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT IN ASEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY 3.1 Policy on developing Vietnamese human resources in AEC 3.2 Current situation of human resource development in Vietnam in AEC 3.2.1 Actual size of human resources * Population, working age population By 2020, Vietnam will continue to hold its position as the country with the second largest workforce in ASEAN, after Indonesia, higher than the Philippines and a long distance from Thailand In addition, Vietnam also has a working age human resource that is ideal for AEC development and integration However, according to the ILO’s forecasts, through this time Vietnam will enter the period of population aging while the Philippines and Myanmar will still maintain strong momentum in the number of employees * Size of trained labor The rate of trained labor in Vietnam has always maintained a steady increase over the years However, the ILO data report shows that the scale of Vietnam's untrained and low-level labor force is still much larger than that of the AEC countries 3.2.2 The current situation of the quality of human resources 3.2.2.1 Current state of knowledge * Social knowledge Social knowledge of Vietnamese workers (about law, political theory, culture ) Most Vietnamese students and workers not have much understanding of the economic, political, cultural, social, and legal features of the countries in the region Meanwhile, with careful preparation, right from high school, Thailand has actively imparted and educated students with knowledge about AEC countries * Professional knowledge Professional knowledge of Vietnamese workers is rated most positively by businesses compared with their skills and attitudes However, compared with workers from other countries in the region with the same 14 training level, the professional knowledge of Vietnamese workers is still underestimated in terms of expertise and up-to-date 3.2.2.2 Reality of skills According to the WEF Global Competitiveness Report, the skills of Vietnamese workers are improving day by day However, compared with ASEAN countries, the ranking of post-graduate skills of Vietnamese workers is still at the lowest level and far from other countries Table 3.1: Ranking of post-graduate skill set of workers and employee training levels of ASEAN countries Country Set of skills after Skills training level for graduation employees Singapore 4 Malaysia 17 Philippines 20 18 Indonesia 37 33 Thailand 79 48 Cambodia 104 76 Vietnam 116 73 Source: Klaus Schwab (2019), “The global competitiveness report”, WEF * Practice skills: Out of all skills, practical skills are the weakest Vietnamese workers' skills and have not seen much improvement since 2015 up to now * Foreign language skills: According to Navigos group, on the threshold of Vietnam joining the AEC, Vietnamese workers are not confident with their foreign language skills when integrating into the AEC In the 2020 national high school exam, more than 63.13% of the exam scores below average in English English - the most common international language, while in such a situation, the teaching and learning situation of other ASEAN countries is even bleaker * Soft skills Currently, training institutions and learners are aware of the importance of soft skills in the working process However, up to now, the soft skills level of Vietnamese workers has not met the expectations of enterprises 15 3.2.2.3 Actual status of human resources In the UNDP assessment of the working attitude of the workers of ASEAN countries, Vietnamese workers are highly appreciated for their ability to adapt to circumstances, progress and hard work However, of all workers in the assessed countries including Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam, only Vietnamese workers were assessed as lacking in discipline and responsibility for their jobs 3.2.3 Actual state of human resource structure 3.2.3.1 Human resource structure according to technical qualification The rate of trained workers in Vietnam has increased at all levels According to the human resource development strategy until 2020, Vietnam established the objective: most of workers are trained (70%), and the number of workers having intermediate professional education diplomas and college degrees is nearly three times the number of workers having undergraduate and postgraduate degrees However, the results of analysis of current labor statistics showed the contrary 3.2.3.2 Human resource structure in sectors where free movement of workers is permitted according to AEC’s commitment (tourism; nurses, doctors, dentists, accountants, survey service, engineers and architects) The synthesis of studies on Vietnamese human resources in the eight fields leads to the following comments: (1) The number of workers in the eight fields has increased, in which, the supply of engineers, architects and accountants is greatest and they have potential for movement to AEC and (2) In general, the quality is still low, and few workers meet regional and international standards In the eight fields, Vietnamese architects and engineers account for the highest rate in AEC Nevertheless, in comparison with AEC countries, the number of Vietnamese architects and engineers meeting ASEAN standards is the lowest in AEC 3.2.3.3 Human resource structure in agricultural, industrial and service sector * Service sector Although the rate of workers in Vietnam’s service sector is much lower than that in ASEAN countries 16 Table 3.1 : Rate of workers in the service sector in ASEAN countries Unit: Percentage (%) Country 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Cambodia 26.6 27.1 27.5 Indonesia 44.8 45.3 45.8 45.9 52 52.2 Malaysia 59.8 60 60.3 60.6 61.3 62.1 Myanmar 35.3 31.3 31.7 31.8 Philippines 53.5 54.6 54.9 55.0 59.5 63.9 Thailand 43.0 44.0 44.5 46.3 46.7 48 Vietnam 32.3 33.1 33.4 34.1 35.9 36.1 Singapore 72.3 72.7 73.0 73.4 75.2 76.3 Source: ILO (2020), "International Labour Migration Statistics Database in ASEAN" * Industrial and construction sectors Among ASEAN countries, Vietnam has a relatively high rate of workers in industrial and construction sectors The rate of workers in Vietnam’s industrial and construction sectors is in the high-rate group in ASEAN, together with Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia However, if compared to the objective established in the human resource planning until 2020, i.e the rate of workers in industrial and construction sectors is 31%, the distance is relatively long 3.3.4 Actual state of Vietnam’s labor movement in the region Although the number of workers who moved in the region tends to increase, but by September 2019, the rate of Vietnamese workers accounts for a very low rate in the number of immigrant workers in Malaysia and Thailand In Singapore, the rate of immigrant workers from Vietnam is not significant In the eight fields with free movement of workers, there have been only about 200 engineers and 10 architects from Vietnam who meet ASEAN standards but have not moved freely in ASEAN 3.4 Assessing the actual state and the cause of Vietnamese human resource development in AEC 3.4.1 Achieved results 3.4.2 Shortcomings (1) Vietnam entered the period of population aging while Indonesia and Philippines still maintain a stable growth level Therefore, Vietnam 17 copes with the fact that the “golden population structure” decreases over time, causing shortcomings for human resource development (2) The number of workers who can join the AEC labor market is not high Meanwhile, ASEAN countries such as Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia have no plentiful work force compared to Vietnam, but the rate of trained workers in these countries is higher than that in Vietnam For this reason, the human resource has greater potential for joining the AEC labor market (3) In all aspects, the quality of Vietnamese human resource is lower than that in many ASEAN-6 countries and in the CMLV group Also, Vietnam has no human resource of the highest quality On the basis of the three knowledge criteria, Vietnamese workers have the lowest knowledge in terms of social knowledge, attitude at work, skills and specialized knowledge (4) Vietnam’s labor structure according to technical qualification and sector still does not meet general requirements of AEC (5) The rate of Vietnamese workers participating in movement in the region (in the formal form) is much lower than that in ASEAN countries The number of Vietnamese workers in Malaysia is lower than that in Laos and Cambodia, which shows that Vietnamese human resource has the lowest competitiveness in the region From the above-mentioned achieved results and shortcomings, the following conclusion can be drawn: in spite of certain achievements, the development of Vietnamese human resource in terms of quantity and quality (including knowledge, skills and attitude) since 2007 still has not met the requirement for joining the AEC labor market; the quality of Vietnamese human resource is the lowest in the region, even compared to Lao and Cambodian workers 3.4.3 Cause 3.4.3.1 Cause of success 3.4.3.2 Cause of shortcomings * Objective cause (1) AEC only allows free movement of skilled workers in eight careers through MRAs while these workers account for only 1.5% of work 18 force in the region Therefore, very few workers in ASEAN take advantage of benefits from MRAs for labor movement (2) Out of the signed MRAs, only MRA in the tourism sector has the common reference qualifications framework Meanwhile, requirements for education standards, degrees and qualifications for workers in each ASEAN country are different because of relatively long development distances This causes the government, educational institutions and workers to meet with difficulties in the building of training programs which meet ASEAN requirements (3) Because AEC’s commitment to free movement of workers is relatively loose, some countries have established their own standards for qualifications, language, etc in order to protect workers and to restrict free movement of workers, causing more challenges for human resource development * Subjective cause State management agency: (1) Vietnam has not implemented MRAs positively AEC countries have implemented MRAs positively and expanded the contents and level of implementation of the undertakings for free movement of workers in many careers and qualifications levels while the potential is great (2) Vietnam has not established a human development strategy in the context of formation of AEC (3) Vietnam has not promulgated policies and sanctions that are strong enough to encourage and compel enterprises in general and ASEAN enterprises in particular to participate in the university’s training activities (4) There are many shortcomings regarding advocacy for the AEC labor market (5) Special importance has not been attached to the facilitation and management of retraining on knowledge, skills and attitude at work in the direction of meeting AEC’s requirements (6) There is a lack of support policies and incentives for workers in AEC Vocational training institutions and universities: (1) Vocational training institutions and universities in Vietnam have not built training cooperation programs in various forms and levels 19 with advanced vocational training institutions and universities in the region and the world (2) The innovation of teaching methods aiming to strengthen selfstudy meets with many difficulties, having an impact on the quality of human resource (3) Shortcomings have not been overcome in training on skills (including practice skills, soft skills and English skills) as well as attitude and responsibility for activities in the university Employers: (1) Due to shortcomings regarding participation in training in the university and worker retraining at workplace (2) Employers have not built a mechanism for attracting and using talents efficiently Chapter PROSPECT AND RECOMMENDATION FOR SOLUTIONS TO DEVELOP HUMAN RESOURCE IN THE ASEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY 4.1 Population development and employment trend in ASEAN until 2030 * Trend in the change of the number of people in working age * Upward trend in employment needs in industrial and service sectors * Upward trend in the demand for medium-skilled workers 4.2 Factors affecting the development of Vietnamese human resource in AEC until 2030 * Positive factors - Commitments to free movement of workers in the eight fields in combination with advantages of geographical distance and cultural similarity with Vietnam, helping the AEC labor market have special advantages in comparison with other markets - It is highly likely that AEC countries will continue to expand the commitment to free movement of workers in more fields 20 - The network of ASEAN universities and vocational training institutions will be expanded in order to help ASEAN training institutions meet regional and international standards - Vietnam has attracted investment from many medium-sized ASEAN enterprises, creating potential for training cooperation between ASEAN enterprises and training institutions - Vietnam is a country with income per capita which is much lower than that in ASEAN-6 countries, which facilitates workers to seek better jobs, creating good conditions for human resource development in the context of formation of AEC - There is a great opportunity to receive skilled workers in the region and to overcome the shortcomings of the national human resource * Negative factors - Some countries have applied self-defence to protect their workers, causing difficulty for training activities - The implementation of the commitment to free movement of workers leads to “human capital flight”, requiring a prompt increase of the human resource - AEC member countries such as Thailand and the Philippines implemented the program for human resource development which is intended for AEC, putting great pressure on Vietnam’s human resource development - The Covid 19 pandemic has decreased the labor demand - The expenditure for human resource development in AEC will not be equivalent to that in developed countries in ASEAN 4.3 Direction of Vietnamese human resource development until 2030 - It is necessary to take the initiative in AEC in order to facilitate the implementation and expansion of the commitment to free movement of workers in the direction of benefits for Vietnam - It is important to prepare human resource for AEC through the increase in the number of workers having vocational training certificates issued by intermediate professional education institutions and higher, the number of workers in the eight fields and the number of workers in the sectors for which AEC will demand in the future 21 - It is necessary to follow breakthrough steps to improve the quality of human resource For the foreseeable future, Vietnam must be in the top position in the CMLV group, get access to standards of Indonesia, Brunei, Thailand and the Philipines and reduct the gap between it and Malaysia and Singapore, especially in terms of practice skills, soft skills and foreign language skills 4.4 Some solutions to develop Vietnamese human resources in AEC until 2030 4.4.1 Solutions for state management agencies 4.4.1.1 Implement and expand the commitment to free movement of workers in AEC - Encourage AEC countries to remove domestic protection measures and create better conditions for the mutual recognition of qualifications - Carry out negotiations to expand the careers to which the free movement of works in ACE is applicable 4.4.1.2 Promulgate a strategy for human resource development in AEC in the period 2020-2030 - Determine the number of workers having vocational training certificates and undergraduate degrees in the eight fields to which the free movement of workers is applicable and other potential fields - Build incentive programs for students and workers who register for following the majors in which AEC undertakes to freely move workers 4.4.1.3 Build and implement sanctions to compel enterprises to participate in training activities at universities and worker retraining - Consider the collection of taxes for human resource development - Implement incentive policies on taxes, administrative procedures, etc for enterprises (especially foreign enterprises and ASEAN enterprises) which participate in the training and retraining of human resource 4.4.1.4 Strengthen advocacy for the AEC labor market to increase the human resource scale in the fields in which AEC has great demand - Build and implement the plan for learning about labor markets in AEC countries on the large scale - Exchange information and study and analyze labor markets between AEC member countries 22 4.4.1.5 Enhance retraining activities and certificate issue to workers according to AEC requirements - Recognize and issue certificates to workers through their experience and achievements - Coordinate with the policy bank in order to implement more credit programs for workers who desire to improve their knowledge and skills to participate in the AEC labor market 4.4.1.6 Continue to develop vocational training institutions - Continue to expand and improve the efficiency of the advocacy for vocational training in the fields in which AEC has great demand - Build a special regime which is intended for workers having good qualifications in AEC so that they can participate in retraining activities at vocational training institutions 4.4.1.7 Efficiently implement special management and support policies for workers in AEC - Take the initiative in building social security policies which is intended for workers who move freely in AEC - Improve the ability to protect workers’ rights at host countries 4.4.2 Solutions for vocational training institutions and universities 4.4.2.1 Take the initiative in signing training cooperation agreements with training institutions and enterprises in ASEAN in various forms - Continue to import training programs and textbooks from advanced schools in ASEAN and in the world - Take the initiative in building exchange student programs on the basis of cooperation with vocational training institutions and universities of high quality in ASEAN 4.4.2.2 Continue to innovate teaching methods in the direction of creating good conditions for learners to take the initiative in gaining knowledge - Design training programs in the direction of increasing the amount of time for learners so that they can express their opinions and exchange the gained knowledge 23 - Change the method of assessing study results in the direction of increasing self-study 4.4.2.3 Improve the efficiency of training on practice skills, soft skills, English skills and attitude at work - Build income increase programs to obtain expenditure for additional construction of practice rooms and laboratories for the purpose of training on practice skills - Innovate the method of internship organization at enterprises to ensure that learners can practice regularly during the training process - Create an English environment at schools 4.4.3 Solutions for employers 4.4.3.1 Strengthen the retraining of workers at workplace - Intensify the training cooperation with knowledge consultancy companies - Invest in the establishment of independent training institutions for employees - Invite highly qualified workers who are retirees to act as persons in charge of worker retraining at enterprises 4.4.3.2 Implement a special treatment regime for skilled workers to attract highly qualified workers in AEC and retain talents in the country - Implement salary, bonus and insurance regimes for talents at enterprises, ensuring competitiveness against other countries in the region - Establish an economic constraint between skilled workers and enterprises through the creation of good conditions for them to contribute capital and buy shares from enterprises 24 ... topic ? ?Developing the human resources of Vietnam in the formation of the Asean Economic Community (AEC)? ?? for the doctoral thesis in economics, majoring in International Economics The thesis' s... interested in human resource development in general and developing human resources in the formation of the AEC in particular New expected scientific contributions of the thesis Firstly, the thesis. .. development in the formation of the AEC, thereby clearly defining the purpose of human resource development when integrating into the labor market The common dynamic of the AEC is to create the change of