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THIS CO MMENTARY IS P UBLISHED BY FITCH SO LUTIO NS MACRO RESEARCH and is NO T a co mme nt o n Fitch Rating s ' cre dit rating

s . Any
co mme nts o r data include d in the re po rt are s o le ly de rive d fro m Fitch So lutio ns Macro Re s e arch and inde pe nde nt s o urce s . Fitch Rating s '
analys ts do no t s hare data o r info rmatio n with Fitch So lutio ns Macro Re s e arch.

Education Analysis - Vietnam Education Analysis


0 6 De c 20 19 Vie tnam Labo ur Marke t Ris k

Key View: Poor access and availability of education throughout the 20th century has left the Vietnamese workforce lacking sufficient foundational skills for businesses'
needs. The country’s formal education system is overburdened and underfunded, with less qualified teachers and teaching materials available. Foundational skills such
as literacy, numeracy and technical abilities remain sparse, although are growing in prevalence with Vietnamese in their mid-20s as the inability to afford education
continues to suppress enrolment and completion rates, negatively affecting business access to qualified, young workers. On account of the country's large population,
Vietnam’s higher education system produces a large number of workers with STEM and ICT capabilities, despite moderate enrolment rates. Research and development
efforts are government led and, thus, promote greater spill over throughout the private sphere. As a result, Vietnam receives a moderate 50.2 out of 100, ranking the
state 13th out of 18 East and South East Asian nations, and 101st out of 201 countries globally.

Advanced Skills Shortage Major Challenge For Employers


Eas t & Southeas t As ia – Education Ris k

Note: 100 = Lowest risk; 0 = highest risk. Source: Fitch Solutions Labour Market Risk Index

Latest Education Risk Analysis

The Deputy Director General of the General Department of Vocational Training, Truong Anh Dung, stated in Q219 that high school graduates
are increasingly likely to enroll in vocational training in a skills-based trade than a degree at a university. The increase comes in light of an
uptick in demand for workers proficient in trades, making the resulting wages more competitive than previously. The general increase in
enrolment in higher education will continue to promote the suitability of the workforce for more types of work; however, the need for STEM and
ICT graduates will remain, particularly as the country attempts to transition to higher forms of economic production.
Formal education within Vietnam remains under the auspices of the government. Under Resolution 88/NQ-QH, the Ministry of Education and
Training will be responsible for compiling a set of textbooks for grades 1-12 in 2019 for the new general education programme. The country has
enacted various reforms to the education system since the 1980s; however, these reforms tend to focus on changing/adapting the school
system or prevalent teaching philosophy. Reforms aimed at promoting a natural evolution of the curriculum is lacking, which makes the
country’s education system unable to meet the demands of the labour market – despite the otherwise high quality of graduates at the
secondary level.
The formal education system in Vietnam remains overburdened as a lack of resources and teachers weighs on the quality of teaching.
Although changes to the education system have been made in order to accommodate more students, the risk of regressing remains. As of
2019, Vietnam has between six and eight pedagogical schools, making the training of much-needed teachers increasingly difficult to do on a
scale large enough to meet the demands placed on it by increased student enrolments. Without improvement to the resources afforded to
Vietnam's formal education, the development of a workforce with baseline skills will be limited, thereby also limiting businesses' access to
suitable local labour.

General Education

This re po rt fro m Fitch So lutio ns Macro Re s e arch is a pro duct o f Fitch So lutio ns Gro up Ltd, UK Co mpany re g is tratio n numbe r 0 8 78 9 9 39
( 'FSG') . FSG is an affiliate o f Fitch Rating s Inc. ( 'Fitch Rating s ') . FSG is s o le ly re s po ns ible fo r the co nte nt o f this re po rt, witho ut any input fro m
Fitch Rating s .
Co pyrig ht © 20 20 Fitch So lutio ns Gro up Limite d. All rig hts re s e rve d. 30 No rth Co lo nnade , Lo ndo n E14 5GN, UK.
THIS CO MMENTARY IS P UBLISHED BY FITCH SO LUTIO NS MACRO RESEARCH and is NO T a co mme nt o n Fitch Rating s ' cre dit rating s . Any
co mme nts o r data include d in the re po rt are s o le ly de rive d fro m Fitch So lutio ns Macro Re s e arch and inde pe nde nt s o urce s . Fitch Rating s '
analys ts do no t s hare data o r info rmatio n with Fitch So lutio ns Macro Re s e arch.
Althoug h Vietnam has committed to increas ed s pending on g eneral education, coupled with a number of policies aimed to improve enrolment and
completion of primary and s econdary s chool, acces s and availability continue to s tunt the labour force’s overall level of education attainment. Vietnam’s
s econdary education excels at producing candidates with hig h quality s kills ets in a number of s ubjects , but failure to adapt to economic needs has left the
country with a lack of workers with contemporary s kills s uch as dig ital literacy. As s uch, Vietnam s cores a low 39 out of 100 for General Education, placing
fifth-las t out of 18 Eas t and South Eas t As ian s tates . Bus ines s es will remain hampered by the lack of available workers with s ound foundational s kills over the
medium term.

Overview Of The Education System

Education provis ion and development within Vietnam is overs een by the Vietnames e Minis try of Education and Training , run at the national, provincial and
dis trict level. The country only cons iders five years of primary s chooling as mandatory for all of-ag e children. The academic year runs from
Aug us t/September throug h to May/June and g enerally cons is ts of two s emes ters . The s chool week runs from Monday to Saturday, but only for half of each
day s o as to addres s the problem of overcrowding in s chools via s hifts between morning and evening blocs .

Education in Vietnam is divided into five levels : pres chool (kinderg arten), primary s chool, middle s chool, s econdary s chool and hig her education. There are
four types of educational es tablis hments in the country: public education es tablis hments (es tablis hed and monitored by the s tate); s emi-public educational
es tablis hments (s et up by the s tate on the bas is of mobilis ing org anis ations and individuals in the s ociety to jointly inves t in infras tructure); people-founded
es tablis hments (s ocial or economic org anis ations that apply for permis s ion from the s tate to s et up an ins titution with non-s tate budg et or capital); and
private educational es tablis hments (individuals or g roups of individuals which apply for permis s ion from the s tate to s et up and inves t in the ins titution
thems elves ).

Primary Education

Due to a lack of economic development throug hout the Vietnam’s recent his tory, the country is faced with a s izable cadre of uneducated citizens . An
es timated 15% of the country has never received any level of s chooling – althoug h acces s had been improving , with the rate of no educational attainment
lowering for Vietnames e young er than 50, the problem of out-of-s chool Vietnames e has s hown s ig ns of increas ing once more. In 2010, an es timated 13% of
all Vietnames e between the ag es of 20 and 24 had not received any s chooling , down from the 4.7% among 40-49 year-olds at the s ame time. This may be an
indication that many Vietnames e enter formal education at a later s tag e in life. Althoug h commitment to education at later ag es bodes well for the
development of foundational s kills throug hout the labour force - later s tarts will hamper prog res s and ability to attend further education. The problems of
child labour and human trafficking remain problematic throug hout Vietnam, and particularly in rural and inland reg ions ; many out-of-s chool g irls from poor
families , for example, have become vulnerable to trafficking and child labour. As a res ult, the rate of young Vietnames e without any education remains
s ig nificant.

Beyond the current s chool-g oing g eneration, an es timated 76% of Vietnames e have completed primary s chool, with a further 8.4% having failed to complete
initial s tag es of s chooling des pite having enrolled. Vietnam has achieved s ig nificant prog res s in the realm of primary education, notably in children's acces s
to education, irres pective of their s ocioeconomic backg round or their reg ional location. This is larg ely a product of the country's hig h expenditures on
education, which has enabled children to receive free education in a g rowing number of facilities nationwide. Education in Vietnam has his torically been
viewed as a crucial way of promoting g ood citizens hip and, therefore, the g overnment has been s triving to provide acces s to all Vietnames e. While lower
education levels among the country's older g enerations put Vietnam at a s lig htly competitive dis advantag e to its neig hbours , the attractivenes s of Vietnam's
labour pool is expected to improve cons iderably due to the s tate's heavy emphas is on primary education attainment. Vietnam has achieved almos t univers al
primary education and has one of the hig hes t primary s chool net enrolment rates in the reg ion at 98% ranking it fourth out of 18 Eas t and Southeas t As ian
s tates .

This re po rt fro m Fitch So lutio ns Macro Re s e arch is a pro duct o f Fitch So lutio ns Gro up Ltd, UK Co mpany re g is tratio n numbe r 0 8 78 9 9 39
( 'FSG') . FSG is an affiliate o f Fitch Rating s Inc. ( 'Fitch Rating s ') . FSG is s o le ly re s po ns ible fo r the co nte nt o f this re po rt, witho ut any input fro m
Fitch Rating s .
Co pyrig ht © 20 20 Fitch So lutio ns Gro up Limite d. All rig hts re s e rve d. 30 No rth Co lo nnade , Lo ndo n E14 5GN, UK.
THIS CO MMENTARY IS P UBLISHED BY FITCH SO LUTIO NS MACRO RESEARCH and is NO T a co mme nt o n Fitch Rating s ' cre dit rating s . Any
co mme nts o r data include d in the re po rt are s o le ly de rive d fro m Fitch So lutio ns Macro Re s e arch and inde pe nde nt s o urce s . Fitch Rating s '
analys ts do no t s hare data o r info rmatio n with Fitch So lutio ns Macro Re s e arch.

High Primary School Enrolment Rates Will Boost Literacy


Eas t & South Eas t As ia – Primary School Enrolment Rate (Net, %)

Source: UNESCO, Fitch Solutions

Vietnam falls in the lower end of the reg ional pack for its overall literacy level at 93.5%. Des pite being relatively hig h for its income categ ory, this literacy
rating is reflective of the s tark dis parities in education received by Vietnam's elderly and young er population, which drag s down the country's
competitivenes s with reg ard to the proportion of workers with formal education. Cons equently, while inves tors will benefit from the vas t s upply of well-
educated youth entering Vietnam's workforce over the coming years , thos e s eeking an immediate s upply of well-educated labour will s trug g le to hire from
Vietnam's exis ting labour s upply even for low s killed pos itions . However, we note that literacy levels in Vietnam are ris ing , es pecially among the young er
g eneration. This may be attributed to the fact that children as young as 18 months of ag e are admitted to public kinderg artens , where they are introduced to
arithmetic and the alphabet.

The mean years of s chooling in Vietnam, however, s tand at 7.2 years ; this is a further drawback on Vietnam's competitivenes s , as this leaves it in the fourth-
lowes t pos ition among the 18 s tates in the reg ion. As s uch, while attaining hig h primary s chool enrolment rates is pos itive for education performance, the
fact that mos t learners are either not completing primary s chool, or are not trans ferring to s econdary education, limits the availability of workers with better
foundational s kills for the workforce. In addition, continued improvement is needed to increas e acces s to education for children within minority populations
who g row up s peaking lang uag es other than Vietnames e as well as to s upport them to remain in s chool for the entire duration of primary s chool education.
The efficacy of the primary education s ys tem als o continues to be affected by factors s uch as a s hortag e of qualified teachers , and hidden cos ts s uch as
textbooks and uniforms that inhibit poorer children from attending s chool. Overall, thes e problems will undermine Vietnam's ability to advance into
s ophis ticated production over the medium-long term due to the s hortag e of advanced s kills .

Secondary Education

Vietnam's track record for s econdary education is more modes t than its accomplis hments in primary education. Students ' acces s to education is als o
increas ing ly inhibited by the relatively expens ive tuition cos ts , the price of tutoring les s ons and apparent corruption in the education s ys tem. Net s econdary
s chool enrolment rates s tand at 60% (the fourth-lowes t in the reg ion); his torically, of the 76% of Vietnames e who complete primary s chool, only 62% of the
population went on to enrol in s econdary education. For Vietnames e young er than 50, however, the rate has remained s table around 73%, from an averag e
of 47.5% for older g enerations . This does indicate that acces s and availability to s econdary s chooling has improved over the decades and will mean that
workers are likely to be more educated the young er they are. As with primary s chool enrolment, however, we note that the 15-19 year-old ag e bracket s uffers
from depres s ed enrolment rates and s urmis e that the late s tart in education (or no s tart in s ome ins tances ) and the cos t of attendance are the caus es of
fewer hig h s chool educated Vietnames e.

Increas ed acces s to s econdary education is inhibited by hig h tuition cos ts and other educational expens es , rendering s econdary education unaffordable for
s tudents from more dis advantag ed backg rounds . This can als o promote dis parities between poor and rich s tudents with reg ard to acces s to
quality education with the poor mos t affected as they cannot afford to pay for les s ons outs ide of s chool needed to fill in g aps in learning . As a res ult, the
s econdary education s ys tem is characteris ed by hig her levels of inequality between s tudents of different s ocioeconomic backg rounds . This s tate of affairs
both limits the availability of workers with hig her education levels for employers and lowers Vietnam's competitivenes s reg arding reg ional competitors for
foreig n inves tment s uch as Sing apore, Thailand and Indones ia.

This re po rt fro m Fitch So lutio ns Macro Re s e arch is a pro duct o f Fitch So lutio ns Gro up Ltd, UK Co mpany re g is tratio n numbe r 0 8 78 9 9 39
( 'FSG') . FSG is an affiliate o f Fitch Rating s Inc. ( 'Fitch Rating s ') . FSG is s o le ly re s po ns ible fo r the co nte nt o f this re po rt, witho ut any input fro m
Fitch Rating s .
Co pyrig ht © 20 20 Fitch So lutio ns Gro up Limite d. All rig hts re s e rve d. 30 No rth Co lo nnade , Lo ndo n E14 5GN, UK.
THIS CO MMENTARY IS P UBLISHED BY FITCH SO LUTIO NS MACRO RESEARCH and is NO T a co mme nt o n Fitch Rating s ' cre dit rating s . Any
co mme nts o r data include d in the re po rt are s o le ly de rive d fro m Fitch So lutio ns Macro Re s e arch and inde pe nde nt s o urce s . Fitch Rating s '
analys ts do no t s hare data o r info rmatio n with Fitch So lutio ns Macro Re s e arch.

VIET NAM AND O ECD AVERAGE - ST UDENT P ERFO RMANCE SCO RES (2 0 15)

Reading Mat hemat ics S cience Lit eracy


Vietnam score 487 490 525
OECD averag e score 493 495 493

S o u r c e : OEC D P r o g r a m m e fo r I n te r n a ti o n a l S tu d e n t A sse ssm e n t ( P I S A ) , F i tc h S o l u ti o n s

According to the PISA 2015 s urvey, Vietnames e s tudents outperformed s ome Wes tern countries s uch as France and the US in terms of their mathematical
and literacy ability. Vietnames e s tudents als o performed particularly well for s cience s ubjects with averag e s cience literacy ranking above the OECD
averag es . Thes e res ults s ug g es t that s econdary education in Vietnam, while s till facing s ome challeng es including limited acces s is relatively competitive on
a g lobal s cale. Workers who have received s econdary s chooling will be hig hly capable and will neg ate the need for s ubs tantial additional training .
Nevertheles s , it is important to note that education in Vietnam is s till hams trung by a national curriculum that encourag es rote memoris ation over critical
thinking and creative problem-s olving . According to a Harvard Univers ity report, the education s ys tem in Vietnam is characteris ed by an outdated curriculum,
a lecturer-centered teaching method, a lack of links between teaching and res earch activities , and dis cord between theory and practical training that leads to
a larg e number of g raduates being unable to find a job. The abs ence of clas s dis cus s ions from les s ons is reflective of the fact that s tudents are expected to
be s tudious and pas s ively attentive in the clas s room, creating an environment that s tifles creativity and hinders the quality of education received by s tudents .
Demons trating the lack in evolution of teaching in Vietnames e s chools is the finding that the country has the fifth-lowes t level of dig ital literacy in the reg ion
(with s uch s kills g enerally built and developed at the hig h s chool level).

General Education Expenditure

The g overnment, unders tanding the importance of human capital development to economic g rowth, has poured s ig nificant inves tment into improving the
educational infras tructure of the country to promote wider and equitable acces s to all s tudents . Total g overnment expenditure on education s tands at 18.5%
of g overnment expenditure (equivalent to 5.7% of GDP). This trans lates into the hig hes t amount of s pending (as a portion of GDP) in Eas t and South Eas t
As ia. Currently, the Vietnames e g overnment allocates around a fifth of its annual education budg et to pos t-s econdary education, while further outlays from
families are feeding into the burg eoning private education s eg ment. Mos t notably, the rapid chang es in the economic lands cape, res ulting from the coming
into force of the ASEAN Economic Community, have focus ed attention on the need for clos er collaboration between educators , reg ulators , and indus try to
ens ure that learners can meet the s hifting demands of the marketplace.

Tertiary Education
Vietnam’s tertiary education profile is more competitive than that of its g eneral education. Althoug h g ros s enrolment in hig her education remains moderate,
it has s hown s ig ns of improvement over the pas t two and a half decades . Bus ines s es ’ acces s to labour with tertiary education will improve over the medium-
to-long term, but will remain uncompetitive over the s hort term. Vietnam produces among the mos t STEM and ICT g raduates g lobally, benefiting bus ines s es
in s earch of hig hly s pecialis ed technical s kills ets , while its R&D expenditure is g uided by g overnmental policy and apparent commitment to improving
procedures and proces s es . As s uch, Vietnam receives a competitive 61.5 out of 100 for Tertiary Education, ranking 10th out of 18 Eas t and South Eas t As ian
nations .

A low 25% of the population have completed s econdary s chool and are, thus elig ible for hig her education, althoug h this number is g rowing , as
demons trated by the 36.6% completion rate among 20-29-year-olds . Demand for tertiary education has experienced explos ive g rowth over the las t s everal
years , prompting Vietnam to bols ter its capability to provide tertiary education. Between 1987 and 2009, the number of colleg es and univers ities increas ed
from 101 ins titutions to 376. Enrolment at the tertiary level has g rown dramatically in Vietnam over the las t decade, with the national g ros s enrolment ratio
(colleg e enrolment as a percentag e of the total colleg e-ag e population) ris ing from 10% in 2000 to jus t over 28.3% in 2016 (lates t data available), according
to data from the UNESCO. Des pite this g rowth in enrolment, bus ines s es in s earch of hig hly-s killed workers will face a labour pool s pars ely populated with
workers in pos s es s ion of a tertiary education.

In 2016, only 6.7% of the Vietnames e labour force pos s es s ed tertiary education, s uch that Vietnam ranks las t in its reg ion for this indicator. According to a
report by executive recruiting firm Robert Walters , the relatively s hallow pool of experienced Vietnames e candidates makes it difficult for employers to find
s uitable profes s ionals . This view is further s upported by the World Economic Forum's Global Competitivenes s Survey, which cites an inadequately educated
workforce as the third mos t problematic factor for doing bus ines s in the country. Althoug h a larg e number of American multinational companies have moved
their operations from China to Vietnam, the country has larg er s kills g aps than India and China, caus ing a lack of bas ic work readines s among new recruits in
both the manufacturing and s kills s ector.

This re po rt fro m Fitch So lutio ns Macro Re s e arch is a pro duct o f Fitch So lutio ns Gro up Ltd, UK Co mpany re g is tratio n numbe r 0 8 78 9 9 39
( 'FSG') . FSG is an affiliate o f Fitch Rating s Inc. ( 'Fitch Rating s ') . FSG is s o le ly re s po ns ible fo r the co nte nt o f this re po rt, witho ut any input fro m
Fitch Rating s .
Co pyrig ht © 20 20 Fitch So lutio ns Gro up Limite d. All rig hts re s e rve d. 30 No rth Co lo nnade , Lo ndo n E14 5GN, UK.
THIS CO MMENTARY IS P UBLISHED BY FITCH SO LUTIO NS MACRO RESEARCH and is NO T a co mme nt o n Fitch Rating s ' cre dit rating s . Any
co mme nts o r data include d in the re po rt are s o le ly de rive d fro m Fitch So lutio ns Macro Re s e arch and inde pe nde nt s o urce s . Fitch Rating s '
analys ts do no t s hare data o r info rmatio n with Fitch So lutio ns Macro Re s e arch.

Portion Of Highly Skilled Workers Still Remains Moderate


Eas t & South Eas t As ia – Gros s Tertiary Education Enrolment Rate (%)

Source: UNESCO, Fitch Solutions

Des pite burg eoning demand, the g overnment has not yet attained its g oal of reaching 200 univers ity s tudents per 10,000 people. According to s tatis tics
from the Minis try of Education and Training , 1.8mn candidates reg is tered for the 2012 centralis ed univers ity entrance examination, of which 1.3mn applied to
univers ities and 500,000 to colleg es . Current capacity for incoming s tudents at the nation's univers ities and colleg es is jus t under 600,000, meaning there is
s ig nificantly more demand than can be met domes tically. Due to the boom in demand, many Vietnames e s tudents attend private ins titutions in the country (at
a much hig her cos t) or opt to s tudy abroad. Vietnam has witnes s ed notable g rowth in the emerg ence of private ins titutions , which now account for roug hly
one-fifth of colleg es and univers ities in the country. However, the country's reg ulatory framework to overs ee the quality of tertiary education has failed to
effectively monitor the multitude of new ins titutions and prog rammes . There have been numerous reports of corruption and bad practices in tertiary
education, including the fals ification of deg rees and exam cheating .

Vietnam has ris en to become a s ig nificant s ource of international s tudents for a number of countries around the world, mos t notably Aus tralia, China and the
US. Cons equently, we may s ee an uptick of Vietnames e s tudents looking towards purs uing s tudies in China, Sing apore and other reg ional peers due to their
lower cos ts compared to Wes tern ins titutions . Such a s hift would improve reg ional integ ration efforts as s kills learnt in reg ional peers are trans ferable and
relevant to reg ional value-chains . In addition, the ris k of brain drain may be lower compared to that carried by s tudents s tudying in afar countries s uch as the
US, EU and Aus tralia that often end up working abroad. Many s tudents who cannot afford to s tudy abroad or attend private ins titutions end up with limited
options in terms of vocational training and often opt to drop out. Two broad prog rammes are offered within vocational training colleg es . Thes e are one to
three years of vocational training , and two to three years ' vocational and technical education, and quality is monitored centrally. Althoug h popular, vocational
ins titutions face challeng es in terms of quality, exces s ive red tape, and affordability. Vietnames e authorities have s trug g led to meld hundreds of vocational
colleg es into an effective mechanis m capable of meeting the labour requirements of a rapidly emerg ing economy.

This re po rt fro m Fitch So lutio ns Macro Re s e arch is a pro duct o f Fitch So lutio ns Gro up Ltd, UK Co mpany re g is tratio n numbe r 0 8 78 9 9 39
( 'FSG') . FSG is an affiliate o f Fitch Rating s Inc. ( 'Fitch Rating s ') . FSG is s o le ly re s po ns ible fo r the co nte nt o f this re po rt, witho ut any input fro m
Fitch Rating s .
Co pyrig ht © 20 20 Fitch So lutio ns Gro up Limite d. All rig hts re s e rve d. 30 No rth Co lo nnade , Lo ndo n E14 5GN, UK.
THIS CO MMENTARY IS P UBLISHED BY FITCH SO LUTIO NS MACRO RESEARCH and is NO T a co mme nt o n Fitch Rating s ' cre dit rating s . Any
co mme nts o r data include d in the re po rt are s o le ly de rive d fro m Fitch So lutio ns Macro Re s e arch and inde pe nde nt s o urce s . Fitch Rating s '
analys ts do no t s hare data o r info rmatio n with Fitch So lutio ns Macro Re s e arch.

Numerous STEM Graduates But Many Remain Unprepared


Vietnam - Tertiary Graduates By Dis cipline

Note: Tertiary graduates amounted to 536712 in 2017 (latest data available). Source: World Bank, Fitch
Solutions

Quality continues to be a pertinent is s ue. The tertiary education s ys tem faces a raft of challeng es in res ponding to the employment needs of Vietnam's
g rowing economy, es pecially as it s eeks to s teer the value chain away from a focus on low-wag e manufacturing and towards modern indus try and
innovation. Thoug h Vietnam had a hig h number of g raduates at around 536,000 in 2016, no Vietnames e univers ities are lis ted among the world's top 500
univers ities . Furthermore, there was only a s mall proportion of g raduates from s cience and maths (1%) and ICT (2.1%). The g raduates from dis ciplines s uch
as bus ines s and law (29%) and eng ineering , cons truction, and manufacturing dis ciplines (20%) cons titute the majority of g raduates – however, very few of
the s kills obtained are market-ready. Soft s kills s uch as communication, problem-s olving , and creative- and critical-thinking s kills are vitally important in a
modern competitive economy, and cons equently, it follows that g raduates pos s es s ing them are in hig h demand from employers . Vietnames e univers ity
g raduates rank poorly when compared to their counterparts from other countries in the ASEAN reg ion in their s oft-s kill proficiency level, according to the
Vietnam National Productivity Ins titute.

The banking and financial s ector, in particular, is experiencing a particular g ap in s pecialis ed s kill s ets , es pecially within the local talent market. A s hortag e of
eng ineers , s killed manual trades -people and labourers is affecting bus ines s operations , forcing bus ines s es to import s killed workers or up-s kill local
workers at additional cos t. The more s evere deficits in Vietnam are in the fields of health, telecommunications , machine manufacturing , retail, cons truction
(contractors ), trans port/ log is tics and chemicals / fertilis ers . The s hortag e looms particularly larg e in jobs that require vocational training . As a res ult,
bus ines s es will need to import additional workers with the technical and computer s kills to operate s ophis ticated machinery, train others and manag e larg e
plants , among other tas ks . Als o, Vietnam's labour force underperforms in terms of foreig n lang uag e proficiency, even at the executive level. Some
res pondents to a recent Manpower Group s urvey noted a lack of communicative s kills in Vietnam's workforce, as well as g aps in innovation and the ability to
motivate others , s ug g es ting that bus ines s es may face obs tacles when it comes to neg otiating contracts and training s taff.

Research And Development

Vietnam has ambitious plans to be as competitive as its ASEAN peers in terms of innovation performance by 2020, including having hig h technolog y
products cons titute 45% of GDP, increas ing the number of patent protections , rais ing R&D expenditure to over 2% of GDP and, among other objectives , have
at leas t between 11-12 individuals per 10,000 people be employed in s cientific res earch and technolog ical development. According to Vietnam's Minis try of
Science and Technolog y (MST), there are over 2,000 org anis ations that have R&D-focus ed activities and at leas t 130,000 people are employed in R&D.
Virtually all economic development plans and prog rammes are defined by the s tate, with the Minis try of Science and Technolog y res pons ible for the
implementation of s cience and technolog y policies , as well as in res earch on behalf of the s tate. This includes manag ing intellectual property, defining quality
s tandards , s etting R&D policy and carrying out other s tate functions relating to res earch and development.

Other s upporting org anis ations s uch as National Ag ency for Science and Technolog y Information (NASATI), National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP),
and the National Ag ency for Technolog y Entrepreneurs hip and Commercialis ation Development (NATEC), among others , as s is t and advis e the minis try in the
implementation and initiation proces s es of R&D policies . In terms of expenditure, Vietnam currently allocates about 0.4% of its GDP towards R&D, which
equates to approximately USD1.8bn in monetary terms . This is les s competitive compared to reg ional peers s uch as Sing apore, Malays ia, and Thailand in
the ASEAN block, who s pend the equivalent of 2.2%, 1.3% and 0.6% of their GDP res pectively, towards R&D. Among other objectives , Vietnam aims to rais e
the proportion of expenditure on R&D to at leas t 2% of GDP by 2020 to make its elf more competitive ag ains t its ASEAN peers . Increas ing inves tment into

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R&D will be crucial in helping Vietnam to trans cend into more s ophis ticated production and knowledg e dependent s ectors , as its competitivenes s bas ed on
low labour cos t is waning .

This re po rt fro m Fitch So lutio ns Macro Re s e arch is a pro duct o f Fitch So lutio ns Gro up Ltd, UK Co mpany re g is tratio n numbe r 0 8 78 9 9 39
( 'FSG') . FSG is an affiliate o f Fitch Rating s Inc. ( 'Fitch Rating s ') . FSG is s o le ly re s po ns ible fo r the co nte nt o f this re po rt, witho ut any input fro m
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Co pyrig ht © 20 20 Fitch So lutio ns Gro up Limite d. All rig hts re s e rve d. 30 No rth Co lo nnade , Lo ndo n E14 5GN, UK.

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