Skilled labor shortage could hinder Vietnam growth: Google

"[Vietnam] needs more people trained with the right skills to move the country forward," she said while speaking at an annoucement of its innitiatives in the country Friday.

Consultancy AlphaBeta estimates that if leveraged fully, digital transformation could create US$74 billion in annual economic value for Vietnam by 2030.

Google, in cooperation with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Vietnam Innovation Center, has launched the Google Career Certificate program and Google for Startups: Startup Academy Vietnam.

Google Career Certificate is a flexible digital training program available online on the Coursera platform that enable learners with no prior experience or a degree to become job-ready through five tracks: IT support, project management, data analytics, UX design, and digital marketing and e-commerce.

Startup Academy Vietnam will help close the skills gap by providing more learning and growth opportunities for local talent and start-ups.

Deputy Minister of Investment and Planning Tran Quoc Phuong said: "Vietnam’s innovative ecosystem is now entering the critical development phase that needs a lot of investment and in-depth support to develop innovative start-ups and form a high-quality and internationally recognized talent pool."