Skills policy for growth and development: The merits of local approaches in Vietnam

Abstract Vietnam has achieved rapid economic growth since opening-up its economy in 1999, but to achieve further growth the World Bank and others argue it must tackle intermediate level technical vocational skill shortages and gaps, as well as address the poor quality of its technical vocational education and training. The Vietnam government subscribes to such views, but the policy ‘remedies’ prescribed i.e. supply-side approaches and policy borrowing, as well as aspects of the initial ‘diagnosis’, seem highly questionable. Drawing on research on Vietnam’s manufacturing sector, we discuss the skills shortage diagnosis and stakeholders’ perspectives on the government’s policy prescriptions to argue for an approach that recognises the merits of local level strategies, as a more effective way of addressing Vietnam’s ambitions.