Breakthrough solutions needed to accelerate the development of high-tech talent

The “triple gap” in high-tech human resources

On the morning of September 8, the World Bank (WB) released a report updating Vietnam's economic situation in September 2025 with the theme "Accelerating the development of Vietnam's high-tech talent".

Vietnam's goal is to become a high-income country with a knowledge-based and technology-based economy by 2045. According to Ms. Tran Thi Anh Nguyet - Economist, Head of the World Bank's High-Tech Workforce Development Group, in the context of the new technology era reshaping the growth model, "countries that can develop a large and excellent workforce will have a leading advantage".

Vietnam has demonstrated strong political determination through Resolution 57 of the Politburo on breakthroughs in science and technology development, innovation and national digital transformation, and Resolution 71 on breakthroughs in education, training and human resource development that has just been announced. This is considered a solid political foundation to realize ambitions in areas such as AI, semiconductors, and biotechnology - three key industries that have been specifically targeted by the Government.

Another advantage is its geographical location. Vietnam is located in the heart of the East Asia region, home to the world’s five largest science and technology clusters and 36 of the world’s top 100 clusters. This gives Vietnam the opportunity to connect directly to the knowledge network, but at the same time, it faces fierce competition from countries with a long history of investing in science and technology and highly qualified human resources.

According to the WB, Vietnam is still facing three major gaps in high-quality human resources.

The report points out that, to develop high technology, high-quality human resources are not only an option, but also a “prerequisite”. Ms. Nguyet gives an example of the pharmaceutical industry – a high-tech manufacturing industry – which currently has up to 28% of its workers with university degrees or higher, four times higher than the average of other manufacturing industries. The computer programming industry – a high-tech service – has a rate of 80–90% of its workers with university and postgraduate degrees.

“These figures clearly show that high technology can only operate when accompanied by high-quality human resources,” Ms. Nguyet analyzed.

Despite its determination and potential, Vietnam is still facing three major gaps in high-quality human resources, also known as the “triple gap”:

In terms of breadth (quantity), the demand for high-tech human resources in emerging industries could be 2–10 times greater than the current supply.

Deep (quality) margins, human resources lack professional depth, lack the ability to work interdisciplinary and adapt.

With integrated borders, the link between training and research facilities and businesses is still loose.

"Vietnam's human resources base for R&D is still modest, both in absolute numbers and population ratio, lower than that of Thailand and Malaysia, not to mention powers like the US, South Korea and China. More worryingly, up to 64% of Vietnamese scientists are among the world's top talents who do not return to work in Vietnam. At the same time, the domestic university and research system has no name that reaches the world, lacking leading leaders," the expert said.

Ms. Nguyet pointed out three core reasons hindering the development of high-tech human resources in Vietnam. First, limited financial investment. Spending on higher education and science and technology is only half to one-third of that in Thailand and Malaysia. Lack of resources makes it difficult for Vietnam to have modern facilities and attract international experts.

Second, postgraduate training is weak. Only 1/3 of lecturers have a doctorate (compared to 100% in Malaysia). On average, only 10 out of 100 university students pursue postgraduate studies in the country and only 0.3 return to work in Vietnam after graduation.

Third, the connection between universities and businesses is loose. Revenue from science and technology transfer at universities accounts for only 4%, while the average in East Asia is 20%.

"A typical example comes from the semiconductor industry. Domestic research groups design chips, but have to send them abroad for testing, and it takes 6-10 months to receive samples for testing. The lengthy process slows down innovation, increases costs, and hinders startup development and product commercialization," Ms. Nguyet said.

Need for strategic framework and key breakthroughs

To narrow the gap, the World Bank recommends a strategic framework with three pillars: Addressing the gap in quantity and quality of talent; strengthening the linkage of the education-research-business ecosystem; investing in training infrastructure, research and technology application.

Three key breakthroughs were emphasized, including strongly developing postgraduate training; promoting knowledge and technology transfer from FDI enterprises; and investing in pre-commercial pilot production infrastructure, especially in the AI, semiconductor, and biotechnology industries.

According to Ms. Nguyet, the required investment level could be from 150-550 million USD, just for illustration purposes, but "the main message is to be ready to invest large, focused, key, long-term, and be ready to try - fail - do it again to make more progress".

The WB believes that with the right strategy and strong enough investment, Vietnam can completely turn the current talent gap into an advantage in the next 10 years.

“At that time, the story of technology talent will no longer be a bottleneck, but will become a bright spot, creating a new competitive advantage for Vietnam on the global technology map,” concluded the Economist, Head of the World Bank's High-Tech Workforce Development Team.

Thu An

Source: https://doanhnghiepvn.vn/cong-nghe/can-giai-phap-dot-pha-de-but-toc-phat-trien-nhan-tai-cong-nghe-cao/20250908015442437