Ho Chi Minh City introduces additional mechanisms for training high-quality human resources
Ho Chi Minh City plans to utilize task assignments, service commissioning, or competitive bidding to engage public and private universities, research institutes, and foreign organizations in training high-quality human resources across six key sectors, aiming to meet the development needs of a megacity.
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Science and Technology is currently gathering feedback to refine a draft resolution, which will be submitted to the City People's Council during its year-end session.
This mechanism operationalizes the Law on Urban Development, with the goal of addressing the demand for professionals with deep expertise and internationally recognized skills—supporting the city’s socio-economic development, scientific and technological advancement, digital transformation, and green transition.
Moving beyond simple financial support through existing programs, the city intends to implement three specific approaches: assigning tasks, commissioning services, or conducting competitive bidding for training programs. Relevant specialized agencies will assess actual requirements to determine the specific fields, the number of trainees, the required competencies, and the intended job roles following the completion of training.
Semiconductor laboratory at the Research and Development Center, Saigon Hi-Tech Park, December 2024. Photo: Quynh Tran
The six priority areas include specialized healthcare, high-tech biomedicine and pharmaceuticals; education and pedagogy; smart cities, infrastructure, transportation, and urban planning; finance, banking, and commerce; culture, tourism, sports, and the heritage economy; and strategic technologies, digital transformation, the green economy, and high-tech agriculture.
Specific fields of focus include medical specialization, high-tech healthcare, urban rail systems, logistics, human resources for an international financial center, semiconductor microchips, artificial intelligence, information security, and new energy.
Service providers may include public or private universities, vocational education institutions, research institutes, and other domestic or international organizations legally authorized to provide training. Programs may be custom-designed or based on existing curricula, and can be delivered domestically, abroad, online, or through a hybrid format.
The city may assign tasks directly to qualified public institutions, or place orders (commission training) in cases where no domestic provider meets the professional requirements, where the program takes place abroad, or where the training addresses an urgent need. In all other cases, the selection of providers must follow standard competitive bidding procedures.
Individuals selected for training under this mechanism will receive full coverage (100%) of their training and development costs—based on approved unit rates—for up to 10 months per academic year. Funding is drawn from the city’s annual recurrent budget.
To ensure effectiveness, training plans must specify the intended job positions both before and after the course. The employing organization is responsible for assigning appropriate roles, as well as monitoring and evaluating how the training is applied in practice. Learners must commit to fulfilling post-training obligations. In the event that a learner voluntarily drops out of the program, resigns from their position during the training period, fails to complete the program, or leaves their job before the end of the agreed-upon service period, they are required to reimburse all or a portion of the financial support received. Exceptions—such as reassignment or rotation mandated by a competent authority, or the occurrence of force majeure events—may qualify an individual for a full or partial exemption from this repayment obligation.
Le Tuyet
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