Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnamese workers should improve their skills andknowledge in order to make themselves adaptive to scientific and technologicaldevelopment in the digital age, said a local expert.

Dr. Dao Quang Vinh, Director of the Institute of Labour Science and SocialAffairs under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, told VietnamNews Agency reporters that there remains a certain gap between human resourcesof Vietnam and other economies in the region.

He cited statistics in 2016 showing that the rate of trained workers in Vietnamwas only 20.6 percent and most labourers work in agriculture and simpleproduction areas.

Compared to those in other APEC economies, Vietnam’s workforce shows limitationsin soft skills, foreign languages, teamwork capacity, information technologyand creativity, he said.

Therefore, Vietnam should take concerted measures to improve its humanresources quality, with focus on renovating the country’s education andtraining system, Vinh suggested.

The government needs to have policies to encourage schools and educationestablishments to reform training methods in the direction of aligning trainingwith market demands, he said, adding that businesses also need to updateknowledge and new technologies regularly.

In his keynotepresentation at the APEC High-Level Dialogue on Human Resources Development inthe Digital Age in Hanoi on May 15, David Lamotte, International LabourOrganisation (ILO) Deputy Regional Director for the Asia and Pacific Region,said that individuals, particularly young people who represent a significantproportion of the working population, should take a proactive approach tolifelong learning in order to have more options to enter new economicactivities and industries.

Core or soft skills are necessary for individuals, especially the youth, toobtain the skills, knowledge and competence that could enhance their ability tosecure and retain a job, progress at work and cope with changes, he noted.

They are most employable when they have broad-based education and training,basic and portable high-level skills, including team-work, problem solving,information and communications technology, and communication and languageskills, he added.

According to Alan Bollard, Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat, not onlydeveloping economies but also developed ones are seeking ways to get new skillsand new education and training for young people to obtain jobs and for theaging workforce to improve skills.

Vietnam should host workshops to share experience and find different ways toaddress challenges from the digital age, he suggested, noting that as the economy is expected to be highly integratedin the future, with new forms of trade, human resources must satisfy newskills.

As an initiative of Vietnam, the High-Level Dialogue onHuman Resources Development in the Digital Age was designed to address threemajor concerns facing the world of work, namely future of work in the age ofautomation and digitisation, education and training needs to meet the demandsof the new economy, and broad implications for the labour market.

The dialogue was expected to adopt an APEC framework on human resources developmentin the digital age and recommended actions on strengthening and enhancingsocial protection towards social inclusion in the region.-VNA