Vocational Training
Despite this opportunity raised by the trade war, Vietnam is still much smaller and less developed than its northern neighbour, and thus will not be able to catch up overnight. For example, land is relatively more expensive in Vietnam than in China, so it can be difficult to build new factories to accommodate increased demand. Murky land ownership can also increase the cost of expansion.
In addition, Vietnam does not have the integrated manufacturing value chain that China does. While China can produce many components for electronic and high-end goods internally, Vietnam cannot. Even when Vietnam produces high-end components, they may still need to be shipped to China for final assembly.
However, one more immediate limitation is a lack of skilled labour. Higher-end manufacturing requires people with technical skills and experience working with more complex machinery. Even though Vietnam has a young population (with over 70% of Vietnamese under 50 years of age), 40% of FDI companies in Vietnam have reported difficulties in finding enough skilled labour.
The Vietnamese government is investing heavily in education and is taking steps to expand its vocational education and training programmes. Our programme will see participants help REACH capture the opportunities in Vietnam's skills gap and build much-needed capacity among its young workforce.
Vietnam presents promising opportunities for all companies seeking to grow in the region. Thus, up-and-coming business talents will benefit from experience in this fast-growing and well-placed economy. By working on this original experiential field project, participants will also get the chance to train their leadership skills, improve their effectiveness within teams, and test their conceptual thinking skills. We will be sharing more about the programme and project in the weeks to come, so stay tuned for more!
