DaNang (VNS/VNA) - Many Japanese businesses investing in Vietnam havebeen seeking cooperation in joint-surveys, research and human resourcesexchange with local universities as a crucial step to expand in Vietnam beyondHo Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

Asurvey on potential cooperation between 24 universities of Vietnam and Japanesebusinesses in Vietnam was recently organised by the Japan External TradeOrganisation (JETRO).

JETROsaid 24 percent of Japanese enterprises said they expect to host Vietnamesestudents at their factories, while 33 percent raised concerns about employingVietnamese university graduates.

Twenty-twopercent of Japanese enterprises wanted more exchanges with areas in Vietnamoutside of Hanoi and HCM City in Vietnam, according to JETRO.

JETROsaid 80 percent of cooperation and joint-venture projects among Japanese firmsand universities and colleges in human resources and research stillremained concentration in Hanoi and HCM City.

Directorof JETRO Hanoi Office Nakajima Takeo said Japanese investors have beenseeking new destinations in Vietnam in recent years, but human resources,research, technological capabilities and science knowledge at localuniversities are limited.

Hesaid JETRO’s survey aimed to show the true potential in cooperationand shared research and studies among Japanese businesses and localuniversities.

“Althoughremaining a bit different, training programmes at universities in Vietnam arequite similar to Japan. However, Vietnamese universities in Hanoi and HCM Cityhave built up better links with Japanese businesses rather than in otherprovinces and cities,” Takeo said.

“Somecolleges in big cities such as Hanoi, HCM City and Hue have developedresearch and infrastructure, but not yet in other places. English is themost popular foreign language at Vietnamese universities, while Japanese andKorean followed,” he said.

Headded Japanese businesses and Vietnamese colleges had built links throughscholarships, joint-research programmes and employment.

Hehoped the cooperation between Japanese enterprises and Vietnamese collegeswould promote human resources supplies for the two countries.

JapaneseDeputy Ambassador to Vietnam Asazuma Shinichi said the relationshipbetween Japan and Vietnam has drastically developed in different fields.

Hesaid last year’s visit to Vietnam by Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Sugaconfirmed the good bilateral relationship between Japan and Vietnam.

“Thewebinar (held on March 5 to report the JETRO survey results) promised to raiseconcerns in cooperation between the Vietnamese education system andJapanese enterprises. Among positive cooperation ties with localities,businesses and universities, Dong A College in Da Nang has promoted efforts inmeeting the human resource demands at the two countries,” Shinichi said.

Hehoped the Japan-Vietnam relationship would be strongly prompted as 2023 willmark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Japan.

Jointsupport

YamamuraTomokazu, head of project development in Vietnam under the Aijinkai HealthcareGroup, said the group developed two nursing training projects in Thailand and Vietnam,and a skills lab at the Da Nang-based Dong A University.

“Wedeveloped 70 healthcare centres, hospitals and a nursing home for the elderlywith total of 2,600 beds. Our group sent experts and trainers to helptrain Vietnamese at nursing centres and colleges,” Tomokazu said.

“AijinkaiGroup and Dong A have joined hands to boost practical and training forVietnamese nursing students at the skills lab – which offers Japanese standardnursing conditions for Vietnamese senior students – under the trainingprogrammes by Japanese experts to provide skills and knowledge for Vietnamesestudents before working in Japan,” he said.

Hesaid Vietnamese students will join practical internship courses at hospitals inJapan before returning to work at high-quality hospitals in Vietnam.

“Vietnamesestudents who learned experience from senior Japanese nurses at hospitals inJapan will help other Vietnamese nurses in Vietnam deal with humanresource deficiencies in both countries,” he added.

Accordingto JETRO, the cooperation between Dong A University and Aijinkai Group is apositive and effective example of cooperation between Japanese and Vietnamesepartners.

Chairmanof Dong A University Council, Luong Minh Sam said the Da Nang-based universityhas been building long-term cooperation in education and human resourcestraining with 72 Japanese partners and seven cities in Japan over the past 10years.

Hesaid more than 300 students from the university have qualified for internshipsand high-quality human resources programmes in Japan.

“Despitethe hit of COVID-19, we still sent 25 qualified students to study and practicein Japan. A group of 500 students in automobile, hospitality, economics, foodindustry and construction are planned to work in Japan in 2021-22,” Sam said.

Headded the university offers Japanese language education to more than 2,000students, and it plans to select 2,500 qualified students to work and practiceat hospitals in Japan under cooperation deals with Aijinkai Group and otherpartners each year.

Healso said Dong A had inked education and technology transfer contracts withuniversities in Japan such as Shibaura Institute of Technology, the Universityof Tokyo, Nagasaki University, Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology andthe Japan Foundation.

YamamuraTomokazu also shared that Japanese senior nurses will help Vietnamese studentsto overcome initial difficulties and difference in culture and working skillswhile in Japan.

Hesaid the group would support Vietnamese students with an internship visa for aless than one-year working scheme in Japan as well as accommodation andtraffic.

Tohelp Vietnamese students study in Japan, Hạ Long University in the eponymousnorthern province asked Japanese businesses to grant scholarships, recruitmentand workshops on Japanese language and start-ups.

Theuniversity launched its Japanese language faculty in 2016 and implemented ajoint-research at the UNESCO-recognised world heritage Hạ Long Bay and otherenvironmental science activities with Shiga Prefecture in 2018.

HaiPhong Maritime College could not establish a Japanese language department as ithas only one Japanese teacher and six Vietnamese lecturers in the Japaneselanguage.

JETROalso said Nam Dinh nursing college – where provided graduated students fortraining in Japan and Germany – called Japanese businesses funding vocationaltraining equipment, Japanese language for students from the first year.

Vietnameseyoung students prefer working in Japan in terms of better payment, similarculture, professional working environment and friendly relationship betweenJapan and Vietnam, according to Sam.

DongA college is the only education centre in central Vietnam providing humanresources for the Japanese labour market./.