Realizing Vietnam-Austria cooperation goals

The Vietnam-Austria Cooperation Forum on skilled labor and vocational training held on December 10.

The event was organized by the Vietnamese Embassy in Austria in collaboration with the University of Applied Sciences Krems (IMC Krems), the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKO), and the Austrian Business Agency (ABA).

The forum was attended by 170 delegates in person and 150 online, including the Department of Vocational and Continuing Education, the International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Education and Training, and over 30 Vietnamese companies and vocational schools.

Austrian representatives included Margit Kreuzhuber, Deputy Director General of Labor at the Austrian Business Agency (ABA), Lower Austria State Minister Christiane Teschl-Hofmeister in charge of social and educational issues, and Krems City Mayor Peter Molnar.

The forum featured three sessions updating on the policy and legal environment regarding labor in both countries, as well as opportunities and challenges for cooperation in healthcare – nursing, tourism and hotel – restaurant management, information technology, and other sectors.

In his opening remarks, Ambassador Vu Le Thai Hoang praised the active participation of numerous representatives from the governments, associations, businesses, and training institutions of both countries, highlighting the potential and demand for opening up the skilled labor market and vocational training cooperation between Vietnam and Austria.

Minister Teschl-Hofmeister regarded the forum as a timely and important initiative, reflecting the growing interest in the potential and strengths of labor cooperation and vocational training between the two countries. IMC Krems University stands as a symbol with 150 Vietnamese nursing students receiving full scholarships and efforts to expand vocational training cooperation with partners in Vietnam.

Ambassador Vu Le Thai Hoang delivering the opening speech at the Forum.

In his keynote speech at the forum, Deputy Minister Vu Chien Thang emphasized that Vietnam is in a "golden population structure" phase with 68% of the population of working age, growing by 1 million people annually. With a comprehensive international integration orientation, Vietnam sees sending workers abroad not only as an economic – social solution but also as a crucial "human resource diplomacy" channel, enhancing skills and industrial work habits for workers.

Currently, Vietnam has over 860,000 workers abroad in more than 40 different markets, working in sectors from high technology, information technology to nursing and agriculture.

Austria requires high-quality human resources to compensate for shortages due to an aging population, while Vietnam offers a young, intelligent, diligent, and eager-to-learn workforce, creating significant synergy between the two economies.

Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Vu Chien Thang speaking.

Deputy Minister Vu Chien Thang expressed confidence that the Vietnamese labor community in Austria will serve as a cultural exchange bridge, deepening and strengthening the comprehensive partnership between the two sides.

In a spirit of cooperation and openness, the Deputy Minister urged forum delegates to frankly discuss and identify "bottlenecks" and propose specific solutions to make the deployment of Vietnamese labor to Austria more substantive, effective, and practical in the coming time.

Also at the forum, Vu Truong Giang, Acting Director of the Department of Overseas Labor Management (Ministry of Home Affairs), noted that although the two countries have not signed an official agreement, there are positive signals with 55 Vietnamese workers currently employed in Austria through three pilot enterprises.

Workers enjoy stable incomes (around 2,000 Euros/month) and good welfare benefits. Based on this, Vu Truong Giang proposed that the two sides soon negotiate and sign a labor cooperation agreement to create a legal framework in the near future.

The forum was organized by the Vietnamese Embassy in Austria in collaboration with the University of Applied Sciences Krems (IMC Krems), the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKO), and the Austrian Business Agency (ABA).

During the forum and its side activities, Austrian partners proactively engaged, exchanged, and posed numerous questions and proposals to the Vietnamese Ministry of Home Affairs delegation regarding the demand for human resource training in sectors Austria needs, such as information technology, nursing and healthcare, home care services, green farms, seasonal agriculture, and hotel and restaurant management.

In discussions with potential partners in Austria, Deputy Minister Vu Chien Thang affirmed that the forum is an opportunity for both countries to enhance understanding of the human resource needs Vietnam can supply to Austria and Austria's vocational training strengths for Vietnam, paving the way for cooperation in high-skill, highly-skilled, and modern industrial work sectors.

Both sides will assign focal points to continue researching, exchanging consensus, and following the correct procedural regulations to report to competent authorities, aiming to soon sign a bilateral labor cooperation agreement, creating an official and sustainable legal framework. This will pave the way for many specific cooperation prospects, thereby contributing to realizing the goal of making labor cooperation a key pillar in the Vietnam-Austria partnership.

Some images from the Vietnam-Austria Skilled Labor and Vocational Training Cooperation Forum: