This is associated with gathering the strengths of its young but powerful workforce. In theory, if Vietnam knows how to make the best of its mental and physical strengths, a huge volume of basic essential commodities will be produced, creating a major reserve for future generation.
Economic miracles in some Asian nations such as Singapore, Japan and the Republic of Korea show that they have successfully taken full advantage of the” golden population” opportunity, stimulating their economic growth. China with its economic growth of 15 percent over the past 20 years is a case in point.
In fact, the golden population opportunity itself does not create a positive impact but it must be grasped to produce a golden workforce for the country to develop in a rapid and sustainable manner.
If the golden population period coincides with an adequate supply of highly skilled workers, it will add fresh impetus for the national economy to grown and flourish. On the contrary, if Vietnam fails to seize this opportunity, it will encounter difficulties arising from unemployment and other social evils among people of working age.
Every year, Vietnam has 1.5-1.6 million people added to the ranks of its workforce but up to 75 percent of them are unskilled workers. This means the country is still confronted with a severe shortage of highly-skilled workers, especially in finance, banking, tourism and services. Subsequently, these sectors have to employ foreign workers.
The bottom line is that new suitable policies need to be put in place soon to take advantage of that golden population opportunity.
What has happened in Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, China and Singapore makes it all the more clear about Vietnam’s need to improve the quality of education and training, job creation and human resources development, health care and social welfare.
Without such progress, Vietnam will find itself in a difficult position to deal with the growing rate of unemployment and other social issues related to productive healthcare and aging population, not to mention the fact that it will fail to achieve its long-term goal of becoming an industrialized nation by 2020.
In the first place, Vietnam needs to focus on improving vocational training, restructuring the economy and strongly developing labour intensive sectors like garments and textiles, food processing and services and reduce negative effects on socio-economic development. Then, the golden population structure will be a boon for the country.