Higher Education in Vietnam: Reform, Challenges and Priorities

According to the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report for 2008-2009, Vietnam is a "factor-driven economy", reliant largely for its global competitiveness on the availability of unskilled labour and natural resources.' In 2008, it ranked 70th for global competitiveness among 134 countries surveyed alongside the Philippines (71st), and in the vicinity of the former Soviet satellites of Kazakhstan (66th), Romania (68th), Azerbaijan (69th), Ukraine (72nd) and Bulgaria (76th), but well behind some of its important neighbours, including Singapore (5th), Malaysia (21st), China (30th), Thailand (34th) and Indonesia (55th). Its strengths were considered to be its large market for goods and services (the population of Vietnam is now over 85 million people), the effective functioning of its labour market and its high female labour force participation rate. Its competitiveness was judged, however, to have been "eroded by weaknesses in the quality of infrastructure and institutions, as well as in higher education and training", and the economy was said to be adversely affected by "burdensome government regulation", "weak auditing and reporting standards", a "low university enrolment rate" and "the (poor) quality of its education system"." Interestingly, despite sustained high levels of economic growth over recent years, its global competitiveness index did not seem to be improving.