HCM CITY — The Ministry of Education and Training and Belgian Development Agency are working to improve the capacity of the local workforce by improving management and professional skills of both individuals and organisations through the Facility for Capacity Building (FCB) programme.

The FCB programme aims to help Việt Nam become a knowledge-based industrialised country by 2020, according to Nguyễn Xuân Vang, head of the ministry’s International Co-operation Department, and head of the programme.

Vang spoke at a workshop held on Monday at the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation’s Regional Training Centre (SEAMEO RETRAC) in HCM City.

Begun in 2011, the FCB programme, whose second phase ends in 2019, focuses on two main areas: water and sanitation management in the framework of urbanisation and climate change, and governance in the areas of public administration.

Quality human resources are an important factor in accelerating reform in these two areas, Vang said.  

Besides engineering, bio-sciences (water and sanitation), governance and public administration, the project’s cross-cutting themes include innovation-creativity, management skills, gender and environmental sustainability.

Scholarships will be given to Vietnamese employees and university lecturers to study for international master’s studies or short-term courses in Belgium.

Other tools, instruments, expertise and support for effective training and capacity building plans will be included. A proper monitoring and evaluation system will be set up as well.

A professional network for Việt Nam-Belgium alumni will also be developed.

Lê Việt Dũng, Cần Thơ University’s deputy rector, said the programme would help the university train highly qualified human resources for the Mekong Delta region’s socio-economic development.

Lecturers and other staff will also have opportunities to improve their qualifications, Dũng said.

As part of the effort to fight drought and saline intrusion in the Delta, Cần Thơ University conducts projects in water resources management and environmental hygiene. It also has projects in governance and public administration.

The FCB project duration is from July 2015 to June 2019, with funds of more than 6 million euros (US$6.8 million) from Belgium. The Vietnamese contribution includes costs for office rent and personnel appointed by the Ministry of Education and Training. — VNS