Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung hosted a reception in Hanoi on July 6 for Singapore’s Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng, during which he stressed the need for the two countries to strengthen cooperation and share experience in vocational training and in enhancing the digital capability of the workforce.

Dung said that Singapore leads ASEAN and ranks second in the world in terms of investment capital in Vietnam with 3,095 projects totalling 70.8 billion USD, accounting for 22.9% of the total registered foreign investment in the country. The effectively operating Vietnam - Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIPs) in various Vietnamese localities such as Binh Duong, Nghe An, Bac Ninh, Binh Dinh, Quang Ngai and Can Tho have been a symbol of success in bilateral investment cooperation.

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This success also opens up important opportunities in promoting human resources cooperation between the two countries, he stated, adding that Singapore has received many Vietnamese nationals to work on Singapore-flagged ships with more than 1,300 working in 2022.

Like Singapore, Vietnam prioritises human resources training to meet socio-economic development requirements, especially in the digital era.

Therefore, the official proposed Singapore consider providing training and certificate programmes towards mutual recognition of vocational qualifications between the two countries; and help strengthen linkages between the two countries’ enterprises to promote technology transfer and train hi-tech human resources for Vietnamese workers.

He also suggested the nation create conditions for Vietnamese students to participate in work holiday programmes so as to have an opportunity to experience and gain work experience abroad and connect students of the two countries; and continue to support Vietnam in fields of Singapore’s strength such as occupational safety and health and labour-related inspection.

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Tan See Leng emphasised that as human resources are the most important resource of each country, Singapore is focusing on investing in the development of the workforce, especially vulnerable groups, with the goal of meeting economic development requirements in the digital revolution era.

He spoke highly of the level and creativity of Vietnam's high-quality human resources, affirming his willingness to cooperate and share experiences in the field of innovation.

Agreeing with the Vietnamese side’s proposals, the minister affirmed that Singapore wishes to strengthen collaboration with Vietnam in many fields of mutual interest./.