VietNamNet Bridge – Experts doubt that Vietnam can export specialists on a large scale, claiming they are not qualified to work in an international environment.

Sending specialists abroad has become a hot topic these days, after local newspapers reported that Vietnam has sent farmers to neighboring countries, where they teach cultivation technique and help develop agricultural production.

Vietnamese farmers have travelled to many countries where they have better income than at home.

A labor expert said Vietnamese farmers are very skilled but cannot become well-off in Vietnam because of the problems in production. However, they are highly appreciated in other countries.

In the 1980s, Vietnam also sent many local scientists and educators to African countries, where they worked in many different fields.

So, why doesn’t Vietnam increase the export of its “intelligence” if this can bring benefits to both the specialists and the nation?

Dr. Tran Xuan Hoai, former deputy head of the Physics Institute, an arm of the Vietnam Science and Technology Academy, said Vietnam should try to export the specialists who have high qualifications, but noted that there are not enough specialists qualified to be sent abroad.

Hoai pointed out that there are few opportunities for Vietnamese to work in famous technology companies overseas because Vietnamese, who often score high on tests, are not known for their creativity, and are weak in practice and application of skills.

“I can see that the majority of Vietnam’s excellent students wish to obtain doctorates from foreign universities and then stay overseas for postdoc study and work as assistant lecturers while waiting for better opportunities to come,” he said.

“Meanwhile, very few Vietnamese have opportunities to work for high technology companies which offer high salaries because the companies only want candidates with talent and high creativity,” he said.

“The best Vietnamese engineers whom I know only have qualifications equal to ‘above average’ under German or US standards,” he said. “There are some outstanding talents in academic studies, but these are rare.”

Bui Thi An, a National Assembly Deputy, also doubted the feasibility of the suggested plan on exporting specialists.

She said Vietnam once sent specialists to African countries.

“It could bring some benefits to the specialists, who could earn more money, but not to the country,” she said.

When asked about the qualification of Vietnamese scientists who now work for research institutes, he said about 30 percent of them just “go to the office in the morning and go home in the afternoon”, while 50 percent of the others do not have the necessary qualifications to conduct scientific research.

“This means 80 percent of scientists do not want and cannot follow scientific studies,” he said.

Dat Viet