Just Energy Transition - Opportunities for Vietnam's Labor Market

The workshop attracted over 200 delegates to participate in person and 300 delegates to participate online from relevant agencies such as: National Assembly, Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, German Institute for Employment Research, Institute for Sustainable Futures - University of Technology Sydney and representatives of the private sector.

The workshop analyzed and evaluated the potential that energy transition brings to economic development as well as the labor market of Vietnam, in which it was emphasized that energy transition needs to consider social, cultural, environmental, economic and identity aspects to ensure a fair transition that leaves no one behind.

Chuyển dịch năng lượng công bằng - Cơ hội cho thị trường thị trường lao động Việt Nam - 1 — The workshop was organized with the aim of analyzing and evaluating the potential that the Energy Transition brings to the economic development and labor market of Vietnam (Photo: Contributor).

Dr. Guido Hildner, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Vietnam, stated that in Germany, the number of employees working in green-skilled professions increased by 56.7% from 2012 to 2020. This demonstrates that the energy transition is a complex and demanding process, but also offers tremendous opportunities to benefit people and the economy.

In the field of green job creation, Germany has enhanced the job transition process with Vietnamese partners in fields such as electrical engineering and electronics, training students in rooftop solar power installation. Every year, tens of thousands of students benefit at 11 vocational schools, with 79% of graduates finding employment.

"Clearly, managing a just energy transition is a complex issue, but with high labor demands, Vietnam will need long-term decisions from the government, the promotion of innovation in the public and private sectors, and the mobilization of public-private investment, especially in modernizing the power grid and further increasing renewable energy production," Ambassador Guido Hildner said.

Mr. Ta Dinh Thi, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science , Technology and Environment, affirmed: "Vietnam, together with the international community, is committed to striving to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 and pursuing a just energy transition."

Speaking at the conference, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ha, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, affirmed that globally, both developed and developing countries are committed to and trending towards shifting from using finite fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas, uranium) to renewable, inexhaustible energy (solar, wind, biomass, geothermal).

For developing countries, the energy transition needs to be fair and equity-based so that they can sustainably transition to low-carbon economies and set climate-resilient trajectories while delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Thi Ha emphasized that recently, with the Government's incentive policies, renewable energy sources have developed strongly in Vietnam with impressive figures. By the end of 2021, the total installed capacity of wind and solar power sources reached 20,670 MW, accounting for nearly 27% of the total installed capacity of the entire system. Electricity output from this source has reached 31.5 billion kWh, accounting for 12.27% of the total electricity output of the entire system. The trend of highly skilled labor in the industry is expected to increase further in the next decade in Vietnam. Therefore, training capacity at training institutions needs to adapt to this development trend in order to create jobs and meet domestic demand.

Chuyển dịch năng lượng công bằng - Cơ hội cho thị trường thị trường lao động Việt Nam - 2 — Deputy Minister Nguyen Thi Ha speaks at the workshop (Photo: Contributor).

According to Deputy Minister Nguyen Thi Ha, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, in implementing the Party and Government's policies, has recently advised and submitted to the Government and the Prime Minister for approval many programs, projects, and policies on developing skilled human resources; issuing policies to support workers participating in training and retraining to meet the requirements of the fourth industrial revolution; policies to support workers and employers facing difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic; and policies to develop a flexible, modern, efficient, and sustainable labor market. The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs has directed its specialized units to proactively incorporate green energy content when developing and issuing approximately 300 sets of regulations on the minimum knowledge and competency requirements for graduates at the college and intermediate levels, so that vocational education institutions can integrate them when developing and issuing training programs.

The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs has also strengthened cooperation with international partners such as: cooperation with the International Labor Organization (ILO) to promote and implement the basic principles of the ILO and basic rights at work to ensure that the whole society can benefit from the green transition, the process of preventing and minimizing the impact of climate change, population aging and the impact of technology; strengthened cooperation with the Federal Republic of Germany on developing vocational education with a dual vocational training model, developing renewable energy, consulting and supporting the development of policies on developing vocational skills for workers, developing vocational education in an open, flexible and inclusive direction.

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