Ảnh hưởng của chính sách di chuyển lao động trong AEC tới kĩ năng làm việc của sinh viên NEU

NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF ADVANCED EDUCATION PROGRAMS

------------------------------

RESEARCH REPORT

THE IMPACT OF FREE SKILLED LABOR MOVEMENT
POLICY IN THE ASEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY ON
IMPROVING WORKING SKILLS OF NEU’S
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS STUDENTS

Students :

Nguyễn Việt Dũng - 11171008
Khương Linh Đan – 11170757
Phạm Quang Khải - 11172289
Đặng Hiền Đức – 11180969
Trịnh Phương Thảo - 11174429

Major :

International Economics

Intake :

59

Class :

International Economics 59 AEP

Supervisor :

Đỗ Thị Hương , PhD
Hanoi, 04/2020


DECLARATION
This research is written by ourselves and all information collected from the
questionnaire is permitted to use in the study by all respondents.

Ha Noi, 19 April 2020
On behalf of research team
Nguyễn Việt Dũng

i


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The completion of this research requires a lot of guidance and support from many
people, and we are very fortunate to get this during our project work.

We would like to express my deep gratitude for my supervisor, Dr. Do Thi Huong
for her guidance, supervision and support through this research. Without her
enthusiastic instruction, we could not complete our research.

We also want to give our special appreciation to our parents, our family and our
friends who always stand by us and give us a lot of love and support.

Ha Noi, 19 April 2020

On behalf of research team
Nguyễn Việt Dũng

ii


ABBREVIATIONS
1

ADB

Asian Development Bank

2

AEC

ASEAN Economic Community

3

AEM

ASEAN Economic Ministers

4

AFTA

ASEAN Free Trade Agreement

5

AFAS

ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services

6

AMS

ASEAN Member States

7

AQRF

ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework

8

ASEAN

Association of Southeast Asian Nations

9

CLMV

Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar & Vietnam

10

CSS

Contractual Service Supplier

11

DAV

Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam

12

EPI

English Proficiency Index

13

EU

European Union

14

FDI

Foreign Trade Investment

15

FWCS

Foreign Worker Compensation Scheme

16

GCI

Global Competitiveness Index

17

GDP

Gross Domestic Product

18

GEC

Global Economic Club

19

ICT

Intra Corporate Transferees

Information and Communications Technology

20

ILMIS

International Labor Migration Statistics

21

ILO

International Labor Organization

22

ILOSTAT

International Labor Organization Statistics

23

LU

Law University

24

MRAs

Mutual Recognition Arrangement

25

MNP

Movement of Natural Persons

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26

MOLISA

Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs

27

MUN

Model United Nation

28

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

29

NEU

National Economics University

30

NQF

National Quality Framework

31

ODA

Official Development Assistance

32

OPEC

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries

33

PDR

People's Democratic Republic

34

SOCSO

Social Security

35

UN

United Nations

36

UNDP

United Nations Development Program

37

US

United States

38

VND

Vietnamese Dong

39

VQF

Vietnamese Qualifications Framework

40

WB

World Bank

41

WEF

World Economic Forum

42

WTO

World Trade Organization

iv


LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1 - Vietnam’s urban-rural population structure ................................................21
Table 3.2 - ASEAN workers work in ASEAN and around the world ..........................24
Table 3.3 - Remittances of ASEAN countries (2010-2017) .........................................26

Table 3.4 - English Proficiency Index ...........................................................................34

v


LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 3. 1- Proportion of people with informal jobs by training level, Quarter 1/2019
(%) .................................................................................................................................22
Figure 3. 2-Vietnam’s labor in ASEAN and in non-ASEAN .......................................23
Figure 3. 3-Share of employment by main economic sectors (%) by AMS, 2019 .......29
Figure 3.4 - Net Monthly Salary (after taxes), 2017 .....................................................30
Figure 3. 5- Output per worker, selected countries and ASEAN, 2008 (constant 2009
US$) ...............................................................................................................................31
Figure 3. 6- Global Competitiveness Index 4.0-Ranking of Vietnam ..........................33
Figure 4. 1- Gender promotion of participants in the survey (%) .................................43
Figure 4. 2- The academic level of the participants in the survey (%) .........................43
Figure 4. 3 - Awareness of AEC and its labor mobility policy (%) ..............................44
Figure 4. 4- Awareness of working opportunity and wage in ASEAN member states
(%) .................................................................................................................................45
Figure 4. 5 - Interest in the labor mobility policy (%) ..................................................46
Figure 4. 6 - Self-planning for the enforcement of the policy (%) ................................47
Figure 4. 7 - Self-assessment of preparation in the context of free flow of skilled labor
in AEC (%) ....................................................................................................................48
Figure 4. 8 - Attitude question set (%) ..........................................................................49
Figure 4. 9- Challenges in Juridical procedures (%) .....................................................50
Figure 4. 10- Assessing the importance of community integration (%) .......................51
Figure 4. 11- Trade-off for rights and benefit to have a better job opportunity (%) .....52
Figure 4. 12- Awareness of rights and responsibilities of worker (%) .........................52
Figure 4. 13- Regulation and Law question set (%) ......................................................53
Figure 4. 14- Confidence in self-consciousness/ soft skills (%) ...................................54

Figure 4. 15- Self-equipment with computer skills/software awareness (%) ...............55
Figure 4. 16 - Deep understanding of general and professional education on campus
(%) .................................................................................................................................56

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Figure 4. 17- The driving force for labor export (%) ....................................................56
Figure 4. 18- Professional qualification question set (%) ............................................57
Figure 4. 19- Cultural awareness in ASEAN (%) .........................................................58
Figure 4. 20- Flexible self-adaptation in changing environment (%) ...........................59
Figure 4. 21- Cultural differences increase the likelihood of misunderstanding (%) ...59
Figure 4. 22- Working in a different religion (%) .........................................................60
Figure 4. 23- Culture question set (%) ..........................................................................61
Figure 4. 24- English is the most widely used language in ASEAN (%) .....................62
Figure 4. 25- English language certificate is compulsory to work in ASEAN (%) ......63
Figure 4. 26- Proficient and skilled used of English can enhance career prospects in
ASEAN (%) ...................................................................................................................63
Figure 4. 27- Lack of English proficiency as a barrier to the approach of professional
education (%) .................................................................................................................64
Figure 4. 28- The necessity of English question set (%) ...............................................65

vii


Table of Contents
DECLARATION ....................................................................................................................... i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................... ii
ABBREVIATIONS.................................................................................................................. iii
LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................... v

LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................. vi
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. v
I. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. v
1.1.

Background and rationale......................................................................................... v

1.2.

Research objectives.................................................................................................... v

1.3.

Research missions ...................................................................................................... v

1.3.1. Solve scientific problems ......................................................................................... v
1.3.2. Solve practical problems ........................................................................................ vi
1.4.

Research subjects and scope .................................................................................... vi

1.5.

Research methods ..................................................................................................... vi

1.5.1.

Qualitative research method .............................................................................. vi

1.5.2.

Quantitative research method ............................................................................ vi

II. OVERVIEW OF POLICY OF FREE LABOR MOVEMENT IN THE ASEAN
ECONOMIC COMMUNITY AND THE OPPORTUNITIES, CHALLENGES FOR
VIETNAM ........................................................................................................................... vii
2.1.

Contents of free labor movement policy in the AEC ........................................ vii

2.2.
An introduction to AEC and factors affecting the movement of skilled labor
in the AEC ........................................................................................................................... vii
2.2.1. AEC and the free movement of skilled labor policy ............................................. vii
2.2.2. Factors affecting the movement of skilled workers to work in the AEC ............ viii
2.3. The opportunity and challenges of Vietnam from the free skilled labor movement
policy in the AEC ............................................................................................................... viii
III. VIETNAM’S LABOR MOVEMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF IMPLEMENTING
FREE SKILLED MOVEMENT POLICY IN THE AEC .............................................. ix
3.1.

Vietnam’s labor movement in ASEAN................................................................ ix

3.2

Affecting factors of Vietnam’s skilled labour movement in ASEAN ................... ix

3.3.

General assessment of Vietnam’s skilled labor movement in ASEAN .............. x

IV. ANALYZING AND RESULTS .................................................................................... x

i


4.1.
Affecting factors to improve skills and conditions for NEU’s International
Economics students in acquiring the opportunities from free skilled labor movement
in the AEC ............................................................................................................................. x
4.2. Survey methods and Survey results. ............................................................................ x
4.3. Survey Analysis ............................................................................................................. xi
4.3.1. Attitude question set................................................................................................ xi
4.3.2 Regulation and Law question set ............................................................................ xi
4.3.3. Professional qualification question set. ................................................................ xii
4.3.4. Culture question set ............................................................................................... xii
4.3.5. The necessity of English in the context of free movement of skilled labour in
AEC ................................................................................................................................. xiii
V. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS........................................................ xiii
5.1. Conclusion, limitations of the topic and subsequent research directions. ............. xiii
5.2. Solutions ...................................................................................................................... xiii
5.1.1. Solutions from the National Economics University. ........................................... xiii
5.1.2. Solutions from the School of Trade and Internationa Economics: ................... xiv
5.1.3. Solutions from the students of National Economics University ......................... xiv
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 1
1.1. Background and rationale ............................................................................................ 1
1.2. Research objectives........................................................................................................ 2
1.2.1. General objectives .................................................................................................... 2
1.2.2. Particular objectives ................................................................................................ 2
1.3. Research missions .......................................................................................................... 2

1.3.1. Solve scientific problems ......................................................................................... 3
1.3.2. Solve practical problems ......................................................................................... 3
1.4. Research subjects and scope ......................................................................................... 3
1.4.1. Research subjects ..................................................................................................... 3
1.4.2. Research scope ......................................................................................................... 3
1.5.

Research methods ...................................................................................................... 4

1.5.1.

Qualitative research method ............................................................................... 4

1.5.2. Quantitative research method ................................................................................. 4
1.6.

Overview of relating researches: .............................................................................. 5

1.7.

Research structure ..................................................................................................... 8

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CHAPTER 2: OVERVIEW OF POLICY OF FREE LABOR MOVEMENT IN THE
ASEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY AND THE OPPORTUNITIES, CHALLENGES
FOR VIETNAM ....................................................................................................................... 9
2.1.

Contents of free labor movement policy in the AEC .......................................... 9

2.1.1. Movement of Natural Persons (MNP) .................................................................... 9
2.1.2. Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRAs) ........................................................ 10
2.1.3. ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework (AQRF) ...................................... 10
2.2.
An introduction to AEC and factors affecting the movement of skilled labor
in the AEC ........................................................................................................................... 11
2.2.1. AEC and the free movement of skilled labor policy ............................................. 11
2.2.2. Factors affecting the movement of skilled workers to work in the AEC ............. 12
2.3. The opportunity and challenges of Vietnam from the free skilled labor movement
policy in the AEC ................................................................................................................ 17
CHAPTER 3: VIETNAM’S LABOR MOVEMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF
IMPLEMENTING FREE SKILLED MOVEMENT POLICY IN THE AEC ................. 20
3.1.

Vietnam’s labor movement in ASEAN............................................................... 20

3.1.1. Macroeconomic context and Vietnam’s labor market ......................................... 20
3.1.2. Scale of Vietnam’s skilled labor migration in ASEAN ........................................ 23
3.1.3. Benefits of labor movement for Vietnam .............................................................. 25
3.2

Affecting factors of Vietnam’s skilled labor movement in ASEAN .................... 28

3.2.1. The labor demand of ASEAN-member ................................................................. 28
3.2.2 Skill and employability in Vietnam ........................................................................ 32
3.3.

General assessment of Vietnam’s skilled labor movement in ASEAN ............ 35

3.3.1. Implementation and results achieved by Vietnam ................................................ 35
3.3.2. Limitations of Vietnam .......................................................................................... 36
3.3.3. Reason for the limitations of Vietnam .................................................................. 37
CHAPTER 4: ANALYZING AND RESULTS .................................................................... 39
4.1.
Affecting factors to improve skills and conditions for NEU’s International
Economics students in acquiring the opportunities from free skilled labor movement
in the AEC ........................................................................................................................... 39
4.1.1. Affecting factors to improve skills of NEU’s international students ................... 39
4.1.2. Conditions for NEU’s International Economics students to acquire
opportunities from free labor movement policy in the AEC .......................................... 40
4.2. Survey methods and Survey results ........................................................................... 42
4.2.1. Survey methods ...................................................................................................... 42
4.2.2. Demographic characteristics of participants in the survey .................................. 42

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4.3. Survey Analysis ............................................................................................................ 44
4.3.1. Attitude question set ............................................................................................... 44
4.3.2 Regulation and Law question set ........................................................................... 50
4.3.3 Professional qualification question set .................................................................. 54
4.3.4. Culture question set ............................................................................................... 58
4.3.5. The necessity of English in the context of free movement of skilled labor in AEC
.......................................................................................................................................... 62
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ..................................... 66
5.1. Conclusion, limitations of the topic and subsequent research directions............... 66
5.1.1. Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 66
5.1.2. Limitations of the topic and subsequent research directions ............................... 67

5.2. Recommendations........................................................................................................ 68
5.2.1. Solutions from the National Economics University ............................................. 68
5.2.2. Solutions from the School of Trade and International Economics ..................... 71
5.2.3. Solutions from the NEU’s International Economics students ............................ 75
REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................... 1
APPENDIX ............................................................................................................................... 1

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ABSTRACT
I. INTRODUCTION
1.1.

Background and rationale
ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) was founded with the primary mission

is to build a stable, prosperous and highly competitive economy in ASEAN where
contain not only free mobilities of commodities, services and investment, but also
corresponding economy. Acknowledging this urgency, we decided to research this
paper with the title of “The impact of free skilled labor movement policy in the
ASEAN Economic Community on improving working skills of NEU’s International
Economics students”. This contributes to give comprehensive evaluations, objective
scientific basis, actual situations, background, challenges, personal perspectives, and
solutions. Hence, boosting Vietnamese workforce’s competitiveness in the integration
era.

1.2.

Research objectives

- Clarifying scientific basis and Vietnamese skilled labor mobility situation in

AEC in order to propose appropriate, effective solutions. Analysing and researching
experience from other countries in the area.
- Period: 2015 and 2019.
- Proposing a solution, improving workforce quality and career starter packs for
international economics students to meet requirements in the age of integration.

1.3.

Research missions
1.3.1. Solve scientific problems
- To systemize arguments about accomplished labor mobility in ASEAN
- To overview influence factors and standards of the efficiency of shifting

accomplished labor mobility in ASEAN

v


1.3.2. Solve practical problems
- To analyse the current accomplished labor mobility in Vietnam in ASEAN.
From that point out the tendency in accomplished labor mobility between Vietnam and
other ASEAN members.
- To research, evaluate the opportunities and challenges of Vietnam in
accomplished labor mobility into ASEAN Community.
- To point out International Economics students and Vietnamese labor problems;
- To analyse the impact of free skilled labor movement policy in the AEC on
improving working skills of NEU’s International Economics students
- To recommend solutions to promote Vietnamese, especially NEU’s

International Economics students accomplished free labor mobility in AEC in the
future.

1.4.

Research subjects and scope

 Research subject is the impact of free skilled labor movement policy in the
AEC on NEU’s International Economics students completing a host of working
skills.
 Research scope
- In terms time: The research focuses on analysing related practical issues from
2015 - 2019 and recommending solutions to 2025.
- Survey is conducted by NEU’s International Economics students on March,
2020.

1.5.

Research methods
1.5.1. Qualitative research method
We have collected data through secondary data sources to analyze and evaluate

opportunities and challenges, influencing factors, labour movement situation in
ASEAN and the involvement of Vietnam.

1.5.2. Quantitative research method
The research team first collects the respondents’ data from launching survey
(conducted by NEU’s International Economics students). The data is completely raw,

vi

and then the team extracts the data into categories to establish assessment criteria to
evaluate the impact of free skilled labor movement policy in the AEC on improving
NEU’s International Economics working skills by the main factors including attitude,
regulation and law, professional qualification and culture.

II. OVERVIEW OF POLICY OF FREE LABOR MOVEMENT IN THE
ASEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY AND THE OPPORTUNITIES,
CHALLENGES FOR VIETNAM
2.1.

Contents of free labor movement policy in the AEC
- Movement of Natural Persons (MNP): refers to the temporary presence of

individuals in another country in order to supply services and is one of the four ways
through which services can be supplied across international borders, also known as
“Mode 4”.
- Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRAs): are enabling tools to allow
mutual recognition of qualifications of professional services suppliers by signatory
ASEAN Member States to facilitate mobility of professional services providers in the
region. The objective of the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) is to develop a
global network of conformity assessment bodies.
- ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework (AQRF): is a common
reference framework that enables comparisons of education qualifications across
participating ASEAN Member States (AMS).

2.2.

An introduction to AEC and factors affecting the movement of skilled

labor in the AEC
2.2.1. AEC and the free movement of skilled labor policy
A key vision of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is
establishing a globally competitive region with a single market and production
base—one that embraces the free flow of goods, services, investment, and skilled
labor. The AEC has four objectives: (i) creating a single market and production base;

vii


(ii) increasing competitiveness; (iii) promoting equitable economic development;
and (iv) further integrating ASEAN within the global economy.

2.2.2. Factors affecting the movement of skilled workers to work in the
AEC
(i) Demand for skilled labor: Differences in foreign language proficiency
levels, differences in foreign language proficiency among countries in the bloc also
have a great influence on the movement of skilled labor. For Vietnamese workers,
language is a major barrier in labor market integration, especially for skilled workers.
(ii) Ability to provide skilled labor of the members countries: The level of
national development and the quality of human resources; and characteristics of
human resources, labor market supply and demand and opportunity costs when
participating in skilled labor mobility.
(iii) Legal framework, development model, implementation capacity of the
regional economic bloc and member countries. The regional or national
development model will define the nature, scale, and forms of the skilled labor
movement in the economic sector and of a member state. An area without borders,
with a common parliament, with a common currency such as the European Union
(EU), has legal frameworks that allow flows of the free and unrestricted labor

movement by certain occupational groups.

2.3. The opportunity and challenges of Vietnam from the free skilled labor
movement policy in the AEC
Opportunities: (i) solve problems of economic goals; (ii) have work experience
in new environments, which meets the requirements of international cooperation,
regional integration and the demand to develop highly skilled and competitive human
resources and (iii) meet the requirements of the labor market, according to the law of
supply and demand of the market. Moreover, the labor movement direction is very
diverse.

viii


Challenges: (i) increasing competition for Vietnamese labor resources and (ii)
brain-drain.

III. VIETNAM’S LABOR MOVEMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF
IMPLEMENTING FREE SKILLED MOVEMENT POLICY IN THE
AEC
3.1. Vietnam’s labor movement in ASEAN
Vietnam’s GDP growth peaked in 2018 (7.1%) and slightly decelerated in 2019
at 7.02%, which is the world’s top high growth. According to the Ministry of Labor,
Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), there were approximated 500.000 men and
women working overseas in about 50 countries and territories all over the world in
about 30 different types of occupation from low to highly skilled labored and
professional. The majority were from rural areas and were young, with low-skilled
employment in fishing, agriculture, domestic work, manufacturing, construction and
other service industries.

3.2

Affecting factors of Vietnam’s skilled labour movement in ASEAN
Vietnam has the third highest population in ASEAN (95.5 million), but the

second in labour force, with nearly 57 million employees. Labour productivity is an
important economic indicator that is closely linked to economic growth,
competitiveness, and living standards within an economy. In recent years, as can be
seen, wages in the CLMV countries have been growing faster than in the more
advanced ASEAN Member States, yet this catch-up process will not bridge the gap in
the near future.
About supply of labour, Vietnam is experiencing a period of “golden population
structure”. In recent years, the unemployment rate in Vietnam has fluctuated between
1.85% and 1.89% of the labour force. About competitiveness of Vietnam’s workforce,
the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) 2019 revealed that Vietnam jumped 10 places
from 2018 to 67, making it the most improved country of 2019. The two pillars where
Vietnam has the best rankings are market size and ICT adoption, ranked 26th and 41st
in the world, respectively

ix


3.3.

General assessment of Vietnam’s skilled labor movement in ASEAN
So far, only several Ministries of Vietnam have established national committees

to carry out MRAs on engineers, architects and tourism, and accounting. Linking labor
supply and demand at the regional level, promoting bilateral cooperation on skilled
labor is limited. The skill gap with the actual requirements of each country is still an

issue that needs to be focused.
The reasons for that restriction are Vietnam's growth model has not facilitated
the selection of skilled labor movement; the management of government; the
limitation of awareness of workers; and Vietnam's labor mobility support system has
not updated the information, requirements and contents of AEC and its member
countries to provide appropriate services.

IV. ANALYZING AND RESULTS
4.1. Affecting factors to improve skills and conditions for NEU’s
International Economics students in acquiring the opportunities from free
skilled labor movement in the AEC
First, is specialist knowledge being studied at the University. The minimum
amount of knowledge for university-level is 120 credits, sufficient to train workers.
Second, is acquiring and practicing soft skills to cultivate and develop oneself
is also a condition to assert individual capacity and increase competitiveness with
other workers in the ASEAN region. In addition, the ability to use computer skills and
computer software is also necessary.
Third, is language skills, especially English which is used by countries in the
AEC.
And the last, Law and Culture includes shared beliefs, ideas, values, customs
and behaviors acquired through learning from others.

4.2. Survey methods and Survey results.
- Quantity: 300 students which 70.3% is female and 29.7% is male.

x


- The number of Junior occupies with the highest proportion (39.7%), followed by the
different levels: 80 second-year students (26.7%), 60 first-year students (20%), 23

final-year students (7.6%). The number of graduates is 18 (occupying 6%).
- The survey was conducted by International Economics students of National
Economics University, Foreign Trade University and so on.

4.3. Survey Analysis
4.3.1. Attitude question set
The response rate of undecided dominates the chart (35% to 44.3%) all-time,
which means the majority of participants are still confused between disagreement and
agreement or undecided. Meanwhile, agree/strongly agree, or very familiar/extremely
familiar is almost the least sector, except "Interest in the labor mobility". From the
collected data of the attitude question set, it can be easily seen that the labor mobility
does draw the respondents’ attention (32% of the respondents' interest in the policy).
However, both their awareness and preparation of this policy which contribute
significantly to the opportunities outside of the home country is insufficient.

4.3.2 Regulation and Law question set
Understanding the responsibilities and laws of ASEAN member countries is
extremely important for oversea labor. These percentages show that participants
understood the basics about this issue. However, the highest rate of disagreement
(36.7%) is in the third column, which means that people still do not really accept to
give up certain benefits to get better job opportunities in other countries in ASEAN.
Besides, those who understand deeply about responsibilities and laws occupy with
quite few proportions. But most people agree that integration with the community will
bring many benefits to the workers.

xi


4.3.3. Professional qualification question set.
Professional qualification is an element that greatly determines job of workers.

The response rate of moderately familiar and very familiar dominates the chart in all 4
statements (highest 47.3% and 45.7% respectively), which means the participants have
confirmed the importance of professional qualification when working in any field. The
percentage of students who are extremely confident in themselves and confident in
their capacity is still relatively low (ranged from 5.7% to 19%). In the fourth column,
the trio of views (undecided, agree and disagree) are quite similar in percentage, with
the difference only ranging from 0.7% to 15%. Thus, although workers know that
professional qualifications and soft skills are important, this policy is not all
motivating for labor movement participants. This issue shows that it's essential to
influence students' understanding of this policy.

4.3.4. Culture question set
Understanding the culture in ASEAN member states is hugely vital for oversea
workers. the undecided/moderately familiar and agree/ very familiar lead the chart
alternately. The percentage of respondents aware of the culture in ASEAN, however,
still occupies a low rate (26.3% of very familiar and 5% of extremely familiar),
whereas self-adaptation makes up 44% of very familiar and 21.7% of extremely
familiar. That means the majority of respondents do have a flexible self-adaptation in
changing environments but have a limited cultural awareness. In addition, many
respondents claim that misunderstanding seems inevitable in cultural diversity. Thus,
it can increase the likelihood of dispute in the absence of cultural awareness, and
labors may find it too difficult to communicate with others, even having a flexible selfadaptation.

xii


4.3.5. The necessity of English in the context of free movement of
skilled labour in AEC
English is the dominant business language, and it has become almost a
necessity for people to speak English if they are to enter a global workforce. As can be

seen from figure 4.28, the agree sector and the strongly agree market are the two
highest components, with the percent variance from 30% to 43.7% and 30.7%-62%,
respectively. As can be realized that the respondents understand the essence of
English. It is considered a positive sign that the respondents can be self-equipment in
English, improving their position in the Global Competitiveness Index.

V. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1. Conclusion, limitations of the topic and subsequent research directions.
Conclusion:
Basically, the research set scientific basis, actual situations, opportunities and
challenges of students, thereby give evaluations and appropriate solutions through four
main factors to boost International Economics students’ competitiveness.
Limitation:
(i)

Only focuses on students majoring in International Economics, not covering all

industries related to 8 occupations freely moving workers in AEC.
(ii)

Due to the relatively short survey period, results were obtained with quite small

sample sizes and a lack of cross-year comparisons as well as comparison of analytical
results over a period of time.
Subsequent research directions:
(i)

Expand the scope of research for students in other majors.

(ii)

Studies need to be more specific and diverse, conduct interviews and surveys

with sample sizes in larger areas at different stages and times.

5.2. Solutions
5.1.1. Solutions from the National Economics University.
- Complete the curriculum to meet social needs and international integration.

xiii


- Improve the model of association between the university and businesses
- Disseminate information about countries in ASEAN region and the skilled
labor mobility in AEC.
- Regularly renew the content, form of education, diversify types of activities
(projects, contests, field trips, exchanges, etc.) to meet integration requirements.

5.1.2. Solutions from the School of Trade and Internationa Economics:
- Continuously updated with breaking news about skilled labor movement
policy in AEC
- Organize extra-curricular activities related to international economic activities
for students: organize the NEUMUN and establish the Global Economic Club (GEC)
of School of Trade and International Economics.
- Improve the quality and capacity of lectures
- Using modern teaching methods

5.1.3. Solutions from the students of National Economics University
- Proactively research information about free labor movement policy in the
AEC

- Students must have a high sense of responsibility for their future life and
career while studying at universities to prepare for the future opportunities in general
and the AEC labor freedom policy in particular
- Self-training, reinforcing specializing skills and soft skills. Fostering,
enriching English capability
- Having the right learning method to possess more working opportunity in
ASEAN countries
- Students should focus on forming and developing the quality standards during
the integration period.

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background and rationale
Globalization and international economic integration have been currently
turned into one of the most indispensable factors of contemporary international
economic relations. One of the foremost manifestations of globalization is to develop a
Multinational Association in Southeast Asian, specifically in a dynamic and diverse
area with significant economic growth, namely ASEAN. ASEAN Economic
Community (AEC) was founded with the primary mission is to build a stable,
prosperous and highly competitive economy in ASEAN which contain not only free
mobilities of commodities, services and investment, but also corresponding economy.
Apart from commodity, service, investment flows, human resources shifted freely
among ASEAN are professional.
It is likely to be a tremendous opportunity for Vietnam as a member of ASEAN
in order to shift the economic structure from a low productivity sector to a higher one.
This also pressurises to move unskilled labor into skilled labor. There, however, will
be a non-zero chance for human resources in Vietnam to transfer to the labor market of
ASEAN if their skills are not met headhunter’s requirements. Certainly, the ability of

seeking a well-paid job will collapse. Simultaneously, the speed of skilled labor
movement can be limited if the government does not improve legal systems and
policies which support mobility, especially education, information and counsel,
worker protection… Thus, this paper will clarify theoretical basis such as core,
requirements of shifting professionals, related factors, criterion of evaluation, results,
as well as, disadvantages of the movement. Subsequently, options for Vietnam which
are topical and urgent issues are offered.
To undergraduates and postgraduates at National Economics University,
especially international economics researchers who are well trained labours, apart
from learning subject’s lore at university and improving social skills, students had
better equipped themselves more to adapt for a whole new era of free worker mobility
in ASEAN.
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Acknowledging this urgency, we decided to research this paper with the title of
“The impact of free skilled labor movement policy in the ASEAN Economic
Community on improving working skills of NEU’s International Economics students”.
This contributes to give comprehensive evaluations, objective scientific basis, actual
situations, background, challenges, personal perspectives, and solutions. Hence,
boosting Vietnamese workforce’s competitiveness in the integration era.

1.2. Research objectives
1.2.1. General objectives
Clarifying scientific basis and Vietnamese skilled labor mobility situation in
AEC in order to propose appropriate, effective solutions. Hence, workers’ rights are
protected, especially international economics students at the age of free skilled labor
movement policy taking place in the AEC.

1.2.2. Particular objectives

- Analyzing scientific basis and Vietnamese skilled labor mobility situation
(skilled labor outflow) when Vietnam is taking part in AEC; researching experience
from neighboring countries in supporting and managing the labor movement in the
area.
- Evaluating and analyzing Vietnamese skilled labor mobility situation in AEC
during the period between 2015 and 2019; main effects, disadvantages remaining
include state management, opportunities, challenges and influences of Vietnamese
skilled labor mobility towards socio-economic development, especially Vietnamese
workforce, (e.g. International economics students).
- One major goal is that proposing a solution to well-trained labor movement
management in AEC, improving workforce quality and career starter packs for
international economics students to meet requirements in the age of integration.

1.3. Research missions
To achieve those aforementioned goals, the research will be focused on the
following missions:

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1.3.1. Solve scientific problems
- To systemize arguments about accomplished labor mobility in ASEAN
- To overview influence factors and standards of the efficiency of shifting
accomplished labor mobility in ASEAN

1.3.2. Solve practical problems
- To analyse the current accomplished labor mobility in Vietnam in ASEAN.
From that point out the tendency in accomplished labor mobility between Vietnam and
other ASEAN members.
- To research, evaluate the opportunities and challenges of Vietnam in

accomplished labor mobility into ASEAN Community.
- To point out International Economics students and Vietnamese labor problems;
- To analyse the impact of free skilled labor movement policy in the AEC on
improving working skills of NEU’s International Economics students
- To recommend solutions to promote Vietnamese, especially NEU’s
International Economics students accomplished free labor mobility in AEC in the
future.

1.4. Research subjects and scope
1.4.1. Research subjects
The research subject is the impact of free skilled labor movement policy on
NEU’s International Economics students completing a host of working skills in the
integration process.

1.4.2. Research scope
1.4.2.1. In terms of time
The research focuses on (i) analyzing Vietnam’s labor mobility in ASEAN
from 2015 - 2019; (ii) analyzing the impact of free skilled labor movement policy on
improving working skills of NEU’s International Economics students based on survey
data and (iii)recommending solutions to 2025.

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