Canada Pledges $20.19M for Vietnam Human Resource Training Project

The Canadian government will provide CAD20 million ($20.19 million) in non-refundable aid to Vietnam to improve the quality of its human resources, said Canadian Ambassador to Vietnam Deborah Chatsis. A memorandum of understanding between the Vietnamese and Canadian governments was signed by Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Cao Viet Sinh and Canadian Ambassador to Vietnam Deborah Chatsis in Hanoi on August 29. The six-year project, to be carried out from 2012 to 2016, aims to improve vocational training and technical education management, as well as to provide opportunities for ethnic minorities, adolescents and rural residents to access skills training programs. Vietnam now has 52.7 million people of working age. However, the country has excessive surplus of unskilled workers and shortage of skilled ones. Improving the quality of human resources is the key for the country to meet requirements of international economic integration, said Sinh. Vietnam and Canada established cooperation relationship in 1990. At present, Vietnam is among 20 nations prioritized for the Canadian government aid. Canada provided CAD23 million to Vietnam for the 2009-2010 financial year and CAD27 million for the 2010-2011 financial year. Canada’s aid for Vietnam mainly focuses on climate change advocacy, sustainable economic development, food security and farmers training.. (www.chinhphu.vn Aug 29, Tien Phong Aug 29, Nhan Dan Aug 29)