Vietnam has been rising as an industrial destination in Asia for years. The influx of international manufacturers, the growth of exports, and the country’s integration into global supply chains have accompanied an economic transformation that now presents a different need: having professionals capable of sustaining higher value-added activities.
The Vietnamese government aims to accelerate this process with a new national policy designed to attract and harness talent, both from within and outside the country. Among the proposed measures is the creation of aVietnam Talent Visa, designed to facilitate the arrival of foreign specialists and streamline administrative procedures for them and their families.
The initiative was discussed at a meeting held on August 23 in Hanoi, chaired by the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, To Lam. The leader called for a strategy that allows for identifying, attracting, utilizing, and retaining qualified professionals in a context of increasing international competition for specialized profiles.
The proposal goes beyond facilitating the entry of foreign workers. Vietnam aims to review its mechanisms for locating talent, offering better professional conditions, connecting experts with strategic projects, and also leveraging the capabilities of the large Vietnamese community living abroad.
Less emphasis on degrees, more on results
One of the most significant aspects of the strategy lies in the criteria used to identify the professionals that the country seeks to attract. Authorities suggest that the consideration of talent should be based primarily on capabilities, creativity, results achieved, and contributions made, rather than rigidly relying on academic degrees, job titles, or seniority.
This approach responds to the needs of sectors where technical experience and the ability to develop projects may be more relevant than traditional administrative trajectories. Science, technology, and innovation are among the priority areas, alongside other fields considered strategic for the country’s development.
Vietnam aims to support this selection with conditions capable of competing for professionals in an increasingly contested international market. Proposed measures include performance-based compensation systems, improved research environments, and more agile administrative mechanisms.
The creation of the new visa would be part of this package. Authorities have also proposed a one-stop system to simplify procedures affecting both specialists and their families, a particularly relevant issue when attempting to attract professionals for extended stays.
Companies will play a central role
The strategy grants considerable prominence to the business sector. Companies will need to participate in identifying the skills that the economy requires, collaborate in the training of professionals, and help connect research, investment, and commercialization.
The goal is to reduce the gap between training and the actual needs of the labor market. Universities and research centers would also receive greater autonomy to hire specialists, develop projects, and collaborate with businesses.
The proposal includes an additional condition for experts participating in strategic projects: their work should not be limited to resolving a specific need. They would also need to contribute to knowledge transfer, team training, and prepare Vietnamese professionals capable of continuing those activities afterward.
This component is particularly important for a country aspiring to increase its technological autonomy. Attracting international specialists can address immediate shortages, but knowledge transfer ensures that this integration has more lasting effects on companies, universities, and research centers.
An international network to locate specialists
Vietnam also intends to utilize its diplomatic presence abroad to identify professionals and facilitate their integration into national projects. Embassies, consulates, and other representations will be able to participate in the search for scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, and both Vietnamese and foreign specialists.
The diaspora occupies a prominent position in this approach. Millions of citizens of Vietnamese origin live outside the country, and among them is a professional community linked to universities, technology centers, and large international companies. Hanoi seeks to improve mechanisms so that some of this knowledge can participate in national projects without requiring, in all cases, a permanent return.
The strategy also includes the development of a national digital infrastructure to manage talent information and connect it with education, science and technology, employment, and labor market systems.
This would not simply involve creating a database of specialists. The intention is to have a tool that allows for understanding professional needs, identifying available skills, and facilitating contacts between companies, research centers, universities, and administrations.
Talent as the next step in Vietnam’s growth
The initiative comes at a time when Vietnam is trying to expand its role within international production chains. For years, one of its main advantages has been having competitive costs and a growing manufacturing capacity. This combination helped attract electronic, textile, and other industrial production.
The landscape is changing. New investments increasingly require engineers, researchers, digital specialists, and professionals capable of working in complex industrial processes. The recent expansion of the semiconductor industry is a prime example.
International companies are developing projects related to chips and advanced materials in the country. The Japanese company Tokuyama, for instance, has just opened a high-purity polysilicon processing plant in Ho Chi Minh City, as part of a strategy to expand and diversify its Asian production capacity.
The arrival of such investments presents different needs than those associated with lower value-added manufacturing. Having industrial facilities is no longer sufficient if the labor market cannot provide the necessary professionals to operate them, develop technology, and progressively take on more complex functions.
Vietnam is trying to anticipate this need. Among its initiatives is the development of an international network of experts and programs aimed at significantly increasing the number of professionals specialized in new technologies, including artificial intelligence.
The aspiration is for the country to move from its position as a major manufacturing platform to an economy with greater technological, scientific, and business capacity. This leap will depend not only on foreign investment and infrastructure but also on something for which many developed and emerging economies are already competing: individuals with specialized knowledge.
The future talent policy still needs to be concretized into measures, procedures, and resources. However, the announcement of the visa and the new selection criteria indicate the direction in which Vietnam intends to head. After attracting factories and international capital, the country now seeks to enhance its ability to attract, train, and retain the professionals it will need for the next stage of its economic development.
