Vietnam’s labor force under TPP challenges and recommendations for human resources development in vietnam

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 1
CHAPTER 1. GENERAL THEORY ABOUT LABOR FORCE AND OVERVIEW OF TPP 5
General theory of Labor force ........................................................................................ 5

1.1

Concept of Labor force ............................................................................................. 5

1.1.1

1.1.1.1 Definition of Labor force ............................................................................ 5
1.1.1.2 Classification of Labor force ....................................................................... 5
Factors that effect on Labor force ............................................................................ 6

1.1.2

1.1.2.1 The population .............................................................................................. 6
1.1.2.2 Population structure ..................................................................................... 7
1.1.2.3 Migrant ......................................................................................................... 8
1.1.2.4 Participation rates in workforce................................................................... 9
1.1.2.5 Dependency ratio ........................................................................................ 10
Human resources and Human resources development .............................................. 10

1.2
1.2.1

Definition ................................................................................................................. 10

1.2.2

Role of HRD in economic development.................................................................. 12

1.2.3

Content of HRD....................................................................................................... 13
Overview of TPP ............................................................................................................ 16

1.3
1.3.1

History and negotiation process of TPP ................................................................. 16

1.3.2

Scope of TPP ........................................................................................................... 18

1.3.3

Meaning behind the effects of the century TPP agreement .................................. 20
1.3.3.1 For developed countries ............................................................................. 22
1.3.3.2 For developing countries ............................................................................ 22

CHAPTER 2. HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT IN VIETNAM ............................. 25
2.1 Overview of Labor force of Vietnam .................................................................................. 25
2.1.1

The workforce.......................................................................................................... 29
2.1.1.1 The size and distribution of the participation rate in labor force ............. 29
2.1.1.2 The structure of the labor force by age ...................................................... 29

2.1.2

Employment ............................................................................................................. 30

2.1.3

Underemployment and unemployment ................................................................... 31
2.1.3.1 The number of underemployment and unemployment ............................ 31
2.1.3.2 The underemployment and unemployment rate ....................................... 32

2.1.4

Productivity of labor force ...................................................................................... 35


Vietnam’s policies relating to Human resources development .................................. 36

2.2

Policies toward incentive labor of quantity ............................................................ 37

2.2.1

2.2.1.1 The group has not got access to job ........................................................... 37
2.2.1.2 The group who are working ....................................................................... 39
Policies toward incentive labor quality ................................................................... 41

2.2.2

2.2.2.1 Policy impacts on mental............................................................................ 41

2.2.2.2 Policy impacts on mind resources .............................................................. 42
2.2.2.3 Policy impacts on physical ......................................................................... 42
Policies toward change of human resources structure .......................................... 43

2.2.3

2.2.3.1 Reasonable structural adjustment policies ................................................ 43
2.2.3.2 Policies impact on distribution human resources reasonably .................. 44
Policies relating recruitment, income and social welfare ...................................... 45

2.2.4

2.2.4.1 Policies on recruitment and employment .................................................. 45
2.2.4.2 Income policies ........................................................................................... 45
2.2.4.3 Social security policies ............................................................................... 46
Evaluate the Vietnam policies relating to Human resources development ............... 47

2.3

Performance ............................................................................................................ 47

2.3.1

2.3.1.1 Evaluate the effectiveness of some specific policies .................................. 47
2.3.1.2 General assessment of the implementation of the policies........................ 51
Limitation ................................................................................................................ 53

2.3.2

2.3.2.1 Evaluate the limitation of some specific policies ....................................... 53

2.3.2.2 General limitation of the implementation of the policies .......................... 56
Chapter 3. CHALLENGES AND RECOMMENTDATION FOR HUMAN RESOURCES
DEVELOPMENT IN VIETNAM UNDER TPP ......................................................................... 58
Challenges for human resources development in Vietnam under TPP .................... 58

3.1
3.1.1

Vietnam in TPP ....................................................................................................... 58
3.1.1.1 Understanding Vietnam’s position in TPP ................................................ 58
3.1.1.2 The different of TPP and other free trade agreements in Vietnam .......... 61

3.1.2

Overall impact of the TPP on Vietnam................................................................... 58
3.1.2.1 Trade in goods and services ....................................................................... 64
3.1.2.2 Investment ................................................................................................... 65
3.1.2.3 State-owned enterprises .............................................................................. 66
3.1.2.4 Intellectual property protection and environmental protection ................ 66
3.1.2.5 Political impact ........................................................................................... 67
3.1.2.6 Strategic impact and foreign policy ........................................................... 68


3.1.2.7 Workforce ................................................................................................... 68
3.1.3

Content of labor commitments of Vietnam in TPP ................................................ 71

3.1.4

Challenges of TPP for the human resources development in Vietnam ................ 73
3.1.4.1 Labor quality............................................................................................... 76
3.1.4.2 Weak implementation of international standards on labor ...................... 80
3.1.4.3 The infrastructure and regulatory framework of the labor market .......... 82
Some recommendations for the government ............................................................... 80

3.2
3.2.1

Raise the efficiency and capacity management of the State institution ................ 81

3.2.2

Strong development labor market ........................................................................... 83

3.2.3

Innovation education and training to improve labor productivity ........................ 85

3.2.4

Increase exports and improve the efficiency of labor export ................................. 87
Some recommendations for the private sectors ........................................................... 87

3.3
3.3.1

For employers .......................................................................................................... 87

3.3.2

For employees.......................................................................................................... 89

CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................... 94
BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................................... 95


DECLARATION

I swear this is my own research. Information and research results in my thesis is due
to self-learn, summarized and analyzed in an honest manner, in accordance with the
actual situation.

Student
Tran Thi Thu Ha


SPECIAL THANK
To complete this essay, the author has been received enthusiastic supports of many
people, and this is the sincere thank of the author:
I would like express my deep gratitude to teacher PhD. Ly Hoang Phu, the dedicated
teacher who always guides, supports and comments for me during the time to
implement this essay.
I would like to sincerely thank all of the teachers in the University of Foreign Trade
who impart and teach me during the time in MITPL3 course.
And I would like to specially thank the colleagues and family for suggestions during
the editing essays and encouraging me during the process to finish this essay.


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AFTA

The Asean Free Trade Agreement

ASEAN

The Association of Southeast Asean Nations

APEC

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

ATIGA

ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement

EEA

European Economic Area

EAEU

Eurasian Economic Union

EPZs

Export processing zones

EVFTA

EU-Vietnam Trade Agreement

EZs

Economic zones

FTAs

Foreign Trade Agreements

FDI

Foreign Direct Investment

GATs

Agreement on Trade in Services

GDP

Gross Domestic Product

HR

Human Resources

HRD

Human Resources development

IZs

Industrial zones

ILO

International Labor Organization

ODA

Official Development Assistance

RCEP

Asia’s Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership

SOEs

State-owned Enterprises

TPP

The Trans-Pacific Partnership

U.S

The United States

USTR

The United State Trade Representative

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

VCCI

Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Vietnam

VGCL

General Confederation of Labor

WTO

World Trade Organization


LIST OF TABLES & FIGURES
Number

Name

Page

Figure 1

Age and sex structure of developed and developing countries

8

Table 1

Members of TPP

17

Table 2

Some key indicators of the labor market

26

Table 3

Underemployment and unemployment rate in the working age, by

33

areas
Table 4

The unemployment rate of youth who has been trained, divided by

34

the level of training, quarter 1, 2016.
Table 5

Labor productivity and growth rate of Vietnam in the period 2006-

35

2015
Table 6

Some objective of HRD for the period 2011-2020

37

LIST OF CHARTS
Chart

Name

Chart 1

Allocation percentage of the workforce by age in urban and rural,

Page
30

Quarter 1-2016
Chart 2

GDP per capita of TPP Members (2014)

59

Chart 3

Forecast GDP growth in 2016

61

Chart 4

Vietnam is the second attractive location in the ASEAN to expand

70

investment
Chart 5

Wages and productivity of Asean countries in 2012

76


Introduction
1. Rationale
In recent years, Vietnam has been seeking opportunities to negotiate free trade
agreements (FTAs) with strategic trading partners to stimulate the economy growth.
Although Vietnam FTAs in Asia is in effect, Vietnam still actively looks for
opportunities to negotiate FTAs with partners outside the region. Among them,
negotiating with partners around the Atlantic region is one of the salient agreements.
Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement – TPP is a free trade
agreement among twelve Pacific Rim countries. This can be seen as the second
generation FTAs which establish a freedom space between countries in Asia and

Pacific.
TPP has a huge adjustment range which consists of comprehensive agreement
covering all the main aspects of a FTA, such as exchange of goods, origin regulations,
technical barriers, exchange of services, intellectual property right, and the
government policies on environmental issues, labor and anti-corruption. Currently,
labor issues are set out in TPP negotiations include the right of workers to negotiate
for all employers, wages, working day, working conditions, conditions of insurance,
and rights in signing labor contracts…Some experts believe that Vietnam will have
the most benefits compare with the other members in the TPP. Chief negotiator of the
government of Vietnam said that the TPP will play an important role in improving
Vietnam’s position in the region as well as in the international area. According to
calculations by independent economic experts, in the favorable conditions, TPP can
foster GDP of Vietnam increased by 23.5 billion USD in 2020 and 33.5 billion USD
by 2025. 1
For the labor market, the labor regulations in TPP help Vietnam to
simultaneously achieve the two targets as economic development and social security
improvement, thereby it will promotes and maintains the sustainability of the
economic reform process in Vietnam. For developing countries like Vietnam, the
1

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1


TPP’s regulations, which ensure the freedom of association and collective bargaining,
will reduce violation of fundamental principles at workplace. It also mitigates
inequality of wages, decrease unemployment, reduce the number of strike, and
contribute to ensure human rights. As a result, it can increase consumption as well as
boost economy. Besides, the labor commitments in the TPP only apply for labor
issues relating to trade, so any country which accused of Vietnam violating labor

regulations must be demonstrate that how the violation (if it occurs) affects to the
trade relations between the two countries. Vietnam expects to benefit from the TPP,
but there are a number of difficulties ahead. When this agreement was signed, an
amount of skilled workers from the other countries will join our labor market and it
will put local labor under pressure.
For the reason above, this essay choose the subject “Vietnam’s labor force
under TPP: challenges and recommendations for human resources development in
Vietnam” to addresses the challenges beside opportunities of Vietnam’s labor market
when implement labor commitments in the TPP. Since then, the author will
recommend some suggestions for human resources development in Vietnam.

2. Status and scope of research
 Status of research
When the TPP agreement be put on the process of negotiations, the economic
experts as well as the researchers remark some comments on the TPP’s influence on
the economy of all members and particular economic area trade in general view. The
economists have given the articles and thesis about the impact of the TPP but only on
the economy. For instance, the author Peter A.Petri and Michael G.Plummer write
the thesis “The Economic Effects of the TPP: New Estimates” – (Jan, 2016); “The
TPP and Asia-Pacific Integration: Policy Implications (June, 2012); The author Ed
Gerwin with his thesis “TPP and the Benefits of Free Trade for Vietnam: Some
Lessons from U.S. Free Trade Agreements” – (Sep, 2015). Mention to labor in the
TPP, there are several authors has given their point in some thesis, such as Ronald
C.Brown, Professor of Law (Univ. of Hawai’I Law School) “Labor Implications of

2


TPP” (Jan, 2016) and “Labor Implications of TPP: A Game Changer?” (May, 2016),
or “The State of Labor Rights in TPP Countries của AFL-CIO”

In Vietnam, Dr. Hoang Chi Cuong also public a thesis named “The TPP:
Opportunities and Challenges for Vietnam”. The fact shows that there have no
specific research on the impact of the TPP to the Vietnamese manpower. Therefore,
the research which focuses on “Vietnam’s labor force under TPP: challenges and
recommendations for human resources development in Vietnam” is an absolutely
new research in Vietnam.
 Scope of research
Within the limits of the thesis, this research only studies the effects of the TPP
for the human resources development in Vietnam, so the writer focus on analyzing
indicators reflecting the labor force as well as the effects brought from joining the
TPP. At the same time, the writer also propose some recommendations for three key
factors deciding the workforce, they are the State, enterprises and workers.
3. Objective and methodologies of this study
 Objective of this essay
The objective of this essay is to study the current status of Vietnam’s labor
force before adhering to the TPP. This essay also provides some recommendations
and solutions to stimulate qualify of manpower in Vietnam in the context of trade
liberalization and labor force in Vietnam be faced with many problems and new
challenges.
To implement this above objective, this essay sets out details following tasks:
-

Systemize theory about labor force and overview of the TPP

-

To describe current policies on human resources development and analyze the
labor force in Vietnam

-

Analyze the challenges in the implementation process of the TPP in Vietnam,
and then propose solution to strengthen the competitiveness of Vietnam’s
workforce.

 Methodologies

3


Author chooses the way to approach the research problems as qualitative
methods. This essay mainly use the research tools, such as analysis, synthesis,
statistical, listing, comparing and discussion with some experts in Vietnam about
TPP.

4. Structure of essay
Besides the introduction, conclusion, list of conferences, annex. This essay
consists of three chapters, as following details:
Chapter 1. General theory about labor force and overview of TPP
Chapter 2. Human resource development in Vietnam
Chapter 3. Challenges and recommendations for human resource development in
Vietnam under TPP.

4


CHAPTER 1. GENERAL THEORY ABOUT LABOR FORCE AND
OVERVIEW OF TPP
1.1 General theory of Labor force
1.1.1 Concept of Labor force

1.1.1.1 Definition of Labor force
The workforce or labor force (also labor force in the United States) is the labor
pool in employment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single
company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic region like a city, state, or
country. Within a company, its value can be labelled as its "Workforce in Place". The
workforce of a country includes both the employed and the unemployed.
Labor force is the most important resource which can effect on economic
development. Understanding in a narrow sense, labor force includes the population
of “working age” and has working capability.
The determination of the size and structure of labor resources are implemented
through the population censuses, or surveys of labor and employment status annually.
The method is defined and applied to each period.
1.1.1.2 Classification of Labor force
Labor force is reviewed on two aspects as quality and quantity.
Quantity of labor is expressed through indicators such as growth rate and size
of workforce.
Quality of labor is considered in some aspects, such as health, qualification,
experience, labor’s capacity. Working capacity is only tied to a certain age limit
which is known as the “working age”. Some countries define “working age” for men
from 15 to 64 years old while others define from 15 to 59, even 10 to 59 years old. It
is depended on the level of physical and mental development of the people as well as
demand for labor in each country. Currently in Vietnam, the labor law issued in 1994
regulate the working age for men from 15 to 60 years old, women from 15 to 55 years
old. However, not all people in working age are involved in the production processes.
The Labor force comprises:
5


- People who are employed: They are those who work during the survey period
including working for family or temporary unpaid leave due to illness, accidents,

labor disputes, on vacation or temporary stop working due to bad weather or
malfunctioning production line.
- People who are without a job, unemployment: They are those who have no jobs
during the survey period, including who previously could not find a job because
of sickness, accident temporary and they have no agreement to start a new job after
this above period. They are also those who temporarily leave or indefinite leave
without payment in the place where the job opportunities are very limited.
Unemployment field also comprises the people who have labor capacity but they
are not actively look for work because they believe there are no occasions that
opened up for them.
1.1.2 Factors that effect on Labor force
1.1.2.1 The population
The population and labor force are not only issues of scientists and experts,
but also the government concerns because the population is both of production and
of consumer. The population is considered the basic element decides the amount of
labor. The size and structure of the population have decisive significance to the size
and structure of the labor force.
The basic factors affect the variation of the population are tradition and custom
of each country, the level of economic development, the level of medical care and the
policies of each country with regard to birth control. Since then, it affects the size of
the population and labor force.
Currently, the increasing of world population in different countries is different.
In general, the rate of population growth in more developed countries with high living
standards is low whereas in less developed countries this rate is high. Today, the rate
of population growth in the world is about 1.8%, Asean countries is 2-3% and African
countries is 3-4%. Currently, 3/4 of the population live in developing countries where
have a rapid population growth while economic growth is slow. This makes living
standards of the population decrease and creates great to jobs on them.
6

-

Population size
Demography is often divided into three basic components. Teenager includes

all children from birth to 14 years old age; Adult population in “working age”
includes people from 15 to 60 years old; and elderly population who are over
“working age”. In ordinary conditions, the population of “working age” accounts the
highest percentage. Its scale is more than total of young population and elderly
population combined.
The population growth in a certain period depends on some major components,
such as natural change (birth, death) and net migration (immigration, emigration).
Therefore, the population growth rate (r) can be defined as follows:

r

B  D  I O
x100
P

In which:
P: is the average population

B: is the number of children were

born
D: is the number of deaths

I: is the number of immigrants

O: is the number of out-migrants

1.1.2.2 Population structure
Age and sex structure of the population impacts on the size and allocation of
labor force.
Young population (young people under 15 years old) and accounts for a high
proportion. This means that annually, the number of young people joining in the
workforce is more than the number of elder people who out of labor force. As the
result, the size of workforce increases and the workforce structure is continuously
rejuvenated, labor movement is taken stronger and quality of labor resource improves
more than in aging population.
Structure of population by age and sex reflect a general picture of fertility, mortality
and population growth of several generations, including new generation in the last
five to ten years.
7


A useful tool to describe the population structure is the pyramid of the population.
Figure 1: Age and sex structure of developed and developing countries

Source: United Nations Population Division, World Population Prospects:
The 2010 Revision, medium variant (2011).
1.1.2.3 Migration
Migration is the movement of people from one territory to another place based
on the standards of space and time.
There are two main migration trends:
-

Migration from rural to urban areas increases population in cities. In more

developed countries, this rate can increase the population in urban areas three
times compared with in rural areas whereas in less developed countries, this
percentage is double.
This urbanization process immediately effects on the status of employment in
urban areas as well as labor force in both rural and urban areas. Most migration
come from rural who have low knowledge, so it is not easy to satisfy the
recruitment requirement of modern businesses. As the result, this added to the
urban labor force unemployed gang, and this is a burden for the economy.

-

International migration:This migration process associates with labor migration
in a short term or long term from developing countries to developed countries.
8


This labor comprises not only simple worker, but also highly educated and
experienced people. This labor migration process has created the phenomenon
of “brain drain” from the poor countries to richer countries, and it also
contributes to increase big gap between the countries.
1.1.2.4 Participation rates in workforce
Participation rate in workforce is the ratio between people in working age
joining labor force to the total labor force. This rate is a profound important to
economic growth.
There are some concepts about participation rates in the workforce as following
details:
-

Crude Labor Force participation rate (CLFPR): is the ratio between the
economically active population to the total population in the year.

𝑃𝐿𝐹
CLFPR =
𝑥 100
𝑃
In which,
PLF: Economically active population
P:

-

Total population

General Labor Force participation rate (GLFPR): This ratio reflects the
participation rate of the economically active population above 15 years old in
the total population aged above 15 years old.

GLFPR =
-

𝐸𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 15 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑣𝑒
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑑 15 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑣𝑒

x 100

Age sex specific labor force participation rate (ASSLFPR) is the ratio
reflecting the level of participation in economic activity with each gender and
different age, it is measured by the number of participants in economic activity
in age of a certain gender compare with the total of population corresponding
to the age of this gender.
ASLFPR =

𝑃𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒 (𝑓𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒)𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑥 (𝑥,𝑥+𝑛) 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑐 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠
𝑃𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒 (𝑓𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒)𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑥 (𝑥,𝑥+𝑛)

x 100

9


1.1.2.5 Dependency ratio
This ratio reflects the economic burden of those who are in working age; have
to work to feed themselves and children or elderly dependents.
The higher ratio, the bigger economic burden of the breadwinner. Thus, to ensure the
living conditions will not diminished, each main labors have to work with more labor
productivity than before.
Dependency ratio =

𝑃𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑔𝑒+𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑔𝑒
𝑃𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑔𝑒

x 100

1.2 Human resources and Human resources development
1.2.1 Definition
 Concept of Human Resources
Human resource, different with other resources such as financial or technology
resources ..., is a special indispensable resource. This decided the success or failure
of an organization. In the existence and development process, human resource is not
only subjected by the impact of fluctuations in natural (birth, death ...) and mechanical
movements (immigration) but also under the influence of a system of rule laws: the

law of supply and demand or competition rules...
In fact, the concept of human resource is understood very complex. This was
studied under many perspectives. Based on the labor ability of human and the limit
of working age, human resource including people of working age, capable workers
without regarding to the status of having or no job. Based on the working age and
inactive status, the workforce includes people in working age but not engaged in the
workforce, such as housewives, students, the unemployed people, immediate
beneficiaries and other subjects in addition to the above objects.
With these above approaches, the common point of human resource is the possibility
of society in the working age.
According to the approach of the United Nations, the "Human resources are
all the knowledge, skills and potential of people related to the development of every
individual, every organization and the country."
Human resources include unskilled labor force, skilled labor, intellectual labor...
10


With the two approaches to human resource demands on the qualifications and
capacity, human resource actually becomes the unit of wisdom matter in the results
of production and social activity. Thus the human resource is to be considered not
only in quantity but also in quality.
From the above analysis, most of generalizations can be understood that
human resources category refers to the hidden power of the population, the ability to
mobilize participation in the process of wealth creation and spirit to society in the
present and in the future. Strength and ability are expressed through quantity, quality
and structure of the population, especially the number and quality of people is eligible
to participate in social production. 2
 Concept of Human resource development
Nadler & Nadler said that HRD, education and training (in the broadest sense)
are terms that have the same connotation. Two authors defined "human resource

development is to increase the experience learning during a defined time period to
increase the chances of improvement job performance." Meanwhile, UNESCO uses
the concept of HRD in the narrow sense, it supposes that HRD is to make the entire
population craftsmanship always fit the requirements of development of the country.
According to ILO, HRD encompasses a wider scope, not only is the dominance of
skilled qualification or training issues in general, but also the development of the
capacity and capability to use it on productive employment, as well as career
satisfaction and personal life. The UN is inclined to use the concept of HRD in the
broadest sense, including education, training and use of human potential to promote
economic development - society and improve their quality of life.
Thus, although there are different expressions, the most common concept of
HRD is the process of improving human capacity in all aspects in order to participate
effectively in national development processes. Human resource development,
therefore, has always been a driving force of progress and impact on all aspects of
social life.

2 Textbook Economics of human resources – National Economic University

11


The experience of many industrialized countries previously showed that most
of development gains are not due to the capital increase that was completed
production in human capacity, expertise, know-how and management careers. Unlike
investments in non-human capital, investment in human development is cross-cutting
issue, multidisciplinary and it impacts on the lives of individuals, families, their
communities and the entire commune Congress in general.
1.2.2 Role of HRD in economic development
A country that wants to develop, it needs to have the resources of economic
development components such as natural resources, capital, science - technology, and

human. In these resources, human resource is the most important. Human resource
plays a decisive role in the growth and economic development of all countries ever.
Despite rich natural resources, machinery and modern techniques, if a country which
has no qualified people who can exploit these resources is unlikely to be able to
achieve growth as desired. There are three main roles of HR are:
-

Human resource detects and creates the resources for development: human
detect, exploit and use natural resources to create economic growth; resource
is the result of labor and the accumulation of human activity; scientific
resources - technology and human-created.

-

Human resource plays a decisive role in the use of other resources. Quality of
human resource is a factor that greatly affects to efficiency of three remaining
resources (including capital resources, science and technology, natural
resources). Talking of human resource is refer to the overall manpower of a
country in which highly qualified human resources are particularly important
component, the essence of human resource, and play a decisive role for the
success of economic development of a country.

-

Human resource is the driving force of economic development. Human
resource itself needs to grow with the increasing requirements, rich and
innovative technology subjects, and adjust economic structure to meet the
needs of society.
Human resource has always played a crucial role for all economic activities in

the resources to develop the country's economy. Human resource decides
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fundamental transformation process, comprehensive production operations, business,
society, from using manual labor commonly to using skilled labors together with
advanced technology, media and advanced methods in order to create high social
labor productivity.
Besides, human resource is an "input" element of the manufacturing process
and is a participant in the consumer products and services of the society. Thus, as part
of the population performing the consumer, human resource becomes agents of
economic demand. Human resource participates in creating supply and demand as
well as directly regulates close relations with economic actors - society created by
man.
Therefore human resource development plays special role in economic
development compared to other resources. Human resource development is the
process of creating and using comprehensive human capacity for economic and social
progress and improving oneself every human being.
1.2.3 Content of HRD
One thing needs to emphasize about HRD is mainly improve the quality of HR
of each country and each territory. Beside labor factor, the quality of human resource
depends on the structure of the workforce in field: technical qualifications,
organizational capacity, management and the ability to coordinate to achieve targets.
Thus, the policy of HRD includes most measures affecting the strength of each
employee, organization, and the way to use this energy source for development.
These are the content about population, health and nutrition, education and training,
employment and income, living standard improvement ….
Stemming from the mentioned above, the basic contents of HRD include:
-

HRD in terms of quantity
Human resource of a country or territory, in term of quantity is expressed in

population size and structure of gender and age. Accordingly, human resource is big
when it has large population size, and the percentage of working-age people is high.
Of course, in terms of development, we cannot take into the rate of annual population
growth. This means that in terms of quantity, human resource is directly affected by
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population size at the time of the original and population development policies of the
country and territory. This issue is taking place in two contradictory trends. For
developed countries, due to factors such as climate, genetics, needs to be free of every
personal development, economic conditions, and the help of the scientific - technical
...so birthrate is very low, while life expectancy is higher, leading to an aging
workforce. Consequently, human resource lack is at an alarming rate. However,
birthrate in developing countries remains high, economic conditions, health care and
health are slowly improved, resulting in a surplus of labor. Consequently,
unemployment increases pressure to solve the employment problem.
-

HRD in terms of quality
The quality of human resource reflects in three aspects: mental, physical and

personality, labor discipline.
+ Mental development is to develop the intellectual capacity of the employees.
It is the process of improving the educational level, professional qualification and
profession, creativity and skills, skills of workers in practical activities. This process
is affected by many factors, including education which plays an important role in the
decision because it is first and foremost product of education. Therefore, training is

put in strategy place of economic development.
Solutions to develop human resource of each country may have different views. But
the most fundamental problem is that almost countries have devoted special attention
in development policy which is the development of human resources education and
training.
Human resource development plays a very important role in increasing labor
productivity, boosting growth and raising living standards, basically be done through
education and training. This is especially urgent in decreased labor market conditions
due to the impact of the economic crisis. Develop and improve the quality of human
resources, in addition to improving physical, in substance, are the development of
education and training, but the focus is to improve the quality of education and
training. To develop knowledge-based economy needs the investment in HRD, but
the core is the development of education and training, particularly investment in
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developing talent. American economist, Gary Becker - who was awarded the Nobel
Prize in economics in 1992, has affirmed that "there is no public investment brings
large investment resources as education. Thanks to the investment in human resource
development, many countries in just a short time have quickly become the industry
development countries.
Education, training and raising the quality of human resources are inextricably linked
to each other. Education is one of the most basic measures to create the quality human
resource, at the same time, the quality of human resource has also become a prime
target of education and training.
+ Physical growth is to increase the height, weight, longevity, strength and
toughness of the nervous, muscular. This issue depends on various factors, such as
natural conditions, race, income and expenditure distribution method, the
environment and working conditions, rest, the health care services (education, health,
culture, sports). In particular, the income and health care services play a particularly

important role. These elements can only be improved on the basis of economic
development.
+ Personality development and labor discipline are to develop cultural factors,
positive spirit and attitude with high self-consciousness, professional passion,
activeness and creativeness, ethic, industrial working style, sociability... in each
employee. It is the process of raising the level of awareness of the life value, sense of
responsibility, ability to get along with the community to build a healthy lifestyle and
industrial working style. In essence, this is the process of promoting the traditional
values and national cultural identity while absorbing the cultural essence of humanity.
For the developing regions, this process is influenced by culture and style of the
farmers who produce in small level which is residual consequence of centralized
management mechanism, especially the downside of the market economy and the
integration process.
-

Improving the efficiency of human resources
Human resource is the source of human asset, therefore HRD will not be

considered comprehensive if this resource is not interested and used effectively. This
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effective using is assessed by the level of full employment of human resources in
terms of quantity, quality and time. Thus, improving the efficiency of human
resources consistent with:
+ investing in employment policies, reasonable income, social insurance
welfare policy, remuneration….in order to improve workforce;
+ improving the efficiency of utilization of human resources, or the added
value created by manpower using;
+ improving utilization factor of working time;

This process is directly influenced by the situation of supply and demand on
the labor market, the quality of human resources and labor policies, and
employment…These policies will encourage working spirit and employee’s
creativeness.
1.3 Overview of TPP
1.3.1 History and negotiation process of TPP
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a proposed free trade agreement among
twelve countries with the aim of expanding international economic cooperation,
boosting export and attracting foreign investment in Asia Pacific. TPP is considered
as the most progressive agreement in history
Twelve members of the TPP include Australia, Brunei, Chile, Mexico, New Zealand,
Peru, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Japan and the United State.

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Table 1: Members of TPP
Country

Status 2005 agreement

Signature of TPP

Start of TPP
Negotiations

Singapore

Party (28 May 2006)

4 February 2016

February 2008

Brunei

Party (28 May 2006)

4 February 2016

February 2008

New Zealand

Party (12 July 2006)

4 February 2016

February 2008

Chile

Party (8 November 2006)

4 February 2016

February 2008

United States

Non-party

4 February 2016

February 2008

Australia

Non-party

4 February 2016

November 2008

Peru

Non-party

4 February 2016

November 2008

Vietnam

Non-party

4 February 2016

November 2008

Malaysia

Non-party

4 February 2016

October 2010

Mexico

Non-party

4 February 2016

October 2012

Canada

Non-party

4 February 2016

October 2012

Japan

Non-party

4 February 2016

May 2013

Source: />TPP derived from the Economic Cooperation Agreement Trans Pacific
Strategic (Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement – also known as
P4), a free trade agreement was signed on 03/06/2005, effective from 28/5/2006
between four countries Singapore, Chile, New Zealand and Brunei.
In 2007, the member states P4 decided to expand the scope of this agreement. They
wanted to negotiate about financial services, investment and exchange with the
United States about its participation in extension negotiation of P4. The US also
began to research the issues and had internal consultations with the Parliament on
these issues.
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In September 2008, The United State Trade Representative (USTR)
announced the decision to participate in negotiations about expanding financial
service market with P4 countries. In November of the same year, Australia, Peru and
Vietnam also participated in the TPP negotiations, bringing the total number of
participants to eight countries (in there, Vietnam officially participate as member
status from 13/11/2010). From this time, the expanding negotiation P4 was renamed
negotiations Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
However, the new TPP negotiations have been delayed until to the end of 2009
because of waiting for the new government of the United State consultations and
review participation TPP negotiations. In December 2009, USTR announced the
decision of the president Obama to continue to participate in TPP. Since then, the
new TPP negotiations were officially launched.
Compared with many other free negotiations, the number of rounds and the
time spending for negotiations of TPP considerably larger. Besides, there are specific
forms of separate negotiations in TPP. For instance, the Ministerial meeting discuss
issues that cannot solve at the level of technical decisions and need greater political

orientation.
1.3.2 Scope of TPP
TPP is a special agreement that is a comprehensive agreement and covering a
very wide range of international trade, stems from its scale. This agreement is a
comprehensive and ambitious agreement in all areas, including the elimination of
tariffs and other barriers to trade and investment. This agreement aims to create
favorable conditions for trade and production supply chain development between
TPP members. It also supports the goal of creating jobs, raising living standards and
improving welfare in member states. To achieve this, the first time a trade agreement
has made a commitment to help address the problem relating to the development of
manufacturing and supply chain areas. TPP countries also agreed to build a uniform
tariff as well as the general rules of origin to help businesses to apply agreement
easily.

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