Chefs of high-end hotels and resorts are mostly foreigners

This is the first congress of the Vietnam Association of Vocational Training and Chef Employment, which elected the first 35 executive committee members of the association. Chef Nguyen Thuong Quan was elected president, along with three vice presidents.

Reporting at the congress, Mr. Quan said that the Vietnam Association of Vocational Training and Employment of Chefs was established with the goal of improving the quality of the kitchen profession, spreading the quintessence of Vietnamese cuisine, and making Vietnam a "chef" food of the world", contributing to the growth of tourism.

According to Mr. Quan, establishing an association is very urgent because currently human resources in the tourism industry are very scarce, including kitchen human resources.

According to the Vietnam National Tourism Administration, each year the industry's human resource needs need to add about 40.000 workers, of which kitchen occupations account for 8-10%. However, each year only about 15.000 workers are trained and supplied to the market.

According to recent statistics from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the whole country has about 540.000 food and beverage outlets from small to large scales, including fast food stores, cafes, bars/pubs.

However, only about 30% of the total kitchen workers are properly trained. Chef positions at high-end hotels and resorts are all held by foreigners.

Even if foreigners are talented, it is difficult for them to perceive and succeed with Vietnamese cuisine like Vietnamese people themselves. To get closer to Vietnam's dream of becoming the world's kitchen, it is necessary to develop training in kitchen human resources.