Viet Nam seeks to strengthen quality, competitiveness of workforce

The event was jointly organized by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Department of Vocational and Continued Education, Viet Nam Ministry of Education and Training.

The workshop brought together more than 80 representatives and experts from relevant ministries and government agencies; Departments of Education and Training from all 34 provinces and cities; universities and vocational education institutions; enterprises, and business associations.

The AQRF acts as a common regional tool that enables the comparisons of educational qualifications across ASEAN Member States. By building mutual trust and shared understanding of national education and skills standards, the AQRF strengthens the foundation for students and migrant workers' mobility across the region while promoting lifelong learning via formal, non-formal, and informal education pathways.

Endorsed by the AQRF Committee in October 2025 and published by MOET in December 2025, the Viet Nam AQRF Referencing Report marks a major step towards making Vietnamese qualifications more transparent, comparable and trusted across ASEAN and beyond, supporting qualifications recognition, labor mobility, and safe, regular and skills-based migration pathways.

During the workshop, participants discussed Viet Nam's post-referencing implementation plan, exchanged regional experiences, and identified practical recommendations for bench marking Viet Nam's education and training system with that of other countries in the region while amplifying the importance of multi-sectoral coordination, particularly among education and training, labor migration, and industry stakeholders.

Addressing the event, Mitsue Pembroke, Officer- in- Charge of IOM Viet Nam said, effectively referencing Viet Nam's Qualification Framework with the AQRF can help Vietnamese migrant workers access decent jobs that better reflect their competencies and offer equal benefits, while reinforcing the government's efforts to develop high-quality human resource that match the industry's requirements in country and abroad.

This is particularly important as Viet Nam seeks to strengthen the quality and international competitiveness of its workforce, she noted.

The country has a labor force of more than 53 million people, yet fewer than one- third hold formal training certificates. Viet Nam also sends approximately 150,000 workers overseas under contract each year and aims to increase the proportion of skilled workers among them to 40 per cent by 2030.

IOM will continue working with MOET, the Ministry of Home Affairs, other government agencies, education and training institutions, employers and development partners to translate Viet Nam's AQRF referencing into practical action and support regular, fair and skills- based labor mobility within ASEAN and beyond./.