Photo 1: Annual Vietnamese Business Forum

During the Annual Business Forum (VBF) technical session, Mr. Bruno Sivanandan, Member of the Executive Board of the Digital Economy Working Group, said that Vietnam's digital skill level has not yet caught up with some neighboring countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore.

"If Vietnam fails to accommodate the number of skilled workers during its rapid digital transformation, the economy could lose up to 2 million jobs by 2045. In the case of this issue remains unresolved, can create large disruptions and disparities, which can have many economic and social consequences," said Mr. Sivanandan.

To remain competitive regionally and globally, Vietnam needs to focus its resources on enhancing the digital skills of its domestic workforce. The Digital Economy Working Group recommends that the Government will play an important role in improving the qualifications of workers to meet the growing demand of businesses for skilled workers. The government also needs to work closely with the private sector in this regard.

In addition, Mr. John Rockhold, Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (AmCham), said that member businesses are committed to working with the Vietnamese government, educational institutions and the private sector to Address gaps in English skills, critical thinking, soft skills and technology expertise to develop a globally competitive workforce.

AmCham also advocates for improving vocational training programs to meet the demand for skilled workers. "We want to make sure Vietnam gets the most out of its demographic dividend and doesn't get stuck at the lower end of the middle-income trap, which can further up the economic development value chain," emphasized the Chairman of AmCham.

In addition, the establishment of an international education institution advisory group with the Ministry of Education and Training, as well as a review of regulations to support digitization and greater access to education to enable lifelong learning. The AmCham Chairman recommended streamlining work permit requirements and eliminating entry permits to ensure that Vietnam can continue to attract and retain top talent from abroad.

The lesson learned from the Covid-19 pandemic is that the Vietnamese workforce needs to be equipped with the necessary digital skills to embrace and drive transformation. The increasing pace of digitization has led to the need to recruit workers with more specialized digital skills, to install or maintain secure IT systems or to provide technical support.

 Representatives of Business Associations attend the Annual Business Forum

According to the Digital Economy Working Group, to improve the quality of services for economic recovery, the Government's Digital Strategy actively supports digital transformation efforts, through investment in the development of digital skills for the workforce, promulgating policies conducive to technology adoption and innovation, and encouraging business digitization.

To address the growing labor demand, many members of VBF have organized education and training for students, higher education institutions, the general workforce and individuals who have lost or are underemployed

Closing the skills gap will require broader public-private partnerships that can be achieved across a number of different sectors, targeting not just students and highly skilled workers, but also those who are currently unemployed.

Therefore, VBF's Digital Economy Working Group recommends building a digital skills training roadmap to identify trends and skills shortages; Nurturing fundamental digital competencies for students, focusing on the field of STEM; Encourage employers, especially micro and medium enterprises, to invest in digital skills development for employees; Promote lifelong learning programs to continuously hone skills.

"This is essential to building effective and impactful skills-building programs. We look forward to working with the Government of Vietnam to develop these programs," confirmed the Digital Economic Working Group.