Vietnam - Singapore strengthen cooperation to improve digital capacity for workforce

Vietnam and Singapore need to strengthen cooperation and share experiences on skills upgrading programmes, vocational retraining and enhancing the digital capacity of the workforce.

Scene of the working session. Photo: Hoang Hieu/VNA

This is the content that Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung proposed to Mr. Tan See Leng, Minister of Manpower and Second Minister of Industry and Trade of Singapore, during the discussion on the cooperation situation between the two countries in the field of labor and human resource development on the afternoon of July 6 in Hanoi.

According to Minister Dao Ngoc Dung, despite the complex fluctuations in the world and the region, with advantages and challenges intertwined, the Vietnam - Singapore Strategic Partnership has been constantly consolidated and developed, becoming increasingly deeper and more substantial. Specifically, Singapore leads ASEAN and ranks second in the world in terms of investment capital in Vietnam with 3,095 projects, totaling 70.8 billion USD, accounting for 22.9% of total registered FDI capital. Vietnam - Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIPs) in the provinces of Binh Duong, Nghe An, Bac Ninh, Binh Dinh, Quang Ngai, Can Tho... continue to operate effectively, symbolizing success in investment cooperation.

This success also opens up important opportunities to promote human resource cooperation between Vietnam and Singapore in the direction of knowledge-based economic cooperation. Singapore is a country that receives many Vietnamese workers working on Singaporean shipping vessels with over 1,300 Vietnamese workers working in 2022. Emphasizing that Singapore attaches great importance to human resource development with specific and creative policies on skills development, typically the Future Skills Program implemented since 2015, Minister Dao Ngoc Dung affirmed that, like Singapore, the training of skilled human resources to meet the needs of socio-economic development is also a top priority for the Party and State of Vietnam, especially in the context of transformation to respond to the 4.0 economy. Minister Dao Ngoc Dung said that the results of cooperation between the two countries in recent times show that cooperation programs in the field of human resource training are very effective and beneficial to Vietnam. The Minister suggested that Singapore strengthen cooperation and share experiences in skills upgrading programs, vocational retraining, and digital capacity building of the workforce. In addition, consider providing training programs and granting certificates towards mutual recognition of vocational qualifications between the two countries; at the same time, strengthen links between businesses of the two countries to promote technology transfer and training of high-tech human resources for Vietnamese workers. Minister Dao Ngoc Dung also suggested that Singapore create conditions for Vietnamese students to participate in Working Holiday Programs to have the opportunity to experience and accumulate work experience abroad and connect students of the two countries. In addition, continue to support Vietnam in areas that are Singapore's strengths such as occupational safety and hygiene, labor inspection; increase mutual support in multilateral cooperation mechanisms such as ASEAN, APEC and free trade agreements of which the two countries are members such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. “This is an opportunity for the two sides to unify their views and prepare for a high-level meeting between the leaders of the two countries on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Singapore,” Minister Dao Ngoc Dung emphasized. Thanking the leaders of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs for their time in welcoming him, Singaporean Minister of Manpower and Second Minister of Industry and Trade Tan See Leng emphasized that human resources are the most important resource of each country. Singapore is focusing on investing in human resource development, especially for the disadvantaged, with the goal of meeting the requirements of economic development in the digital revolution era. Minister Tan See Leng highly appreciated the qualifications and creativity of Vietnam's high-quality human resources; affirmed his readiness to coordinate and share experiences in the field of innovation. Agreeing with the proposals of Minister Dao Ngoc Dung, Minister Tan See Leng affirmed that Singapore wishes to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam in many areas of mutual interest. The meeting between Minister Dao Ngoc Dung and Minister Tan See Leng was an opportunity for the two sides to unify their views; thereby studying and preparing cooperation contents between the two countries, towards a high-level meeting between the two countries' leaders on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Singapore (1973 - 2023) in the near future.

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