Maritime sectors fall short of workers

Hanoi (VNA ) - Vietnam was currently short 70 percent of skilled
workers in sea law and management, a seminar in Hanoi heard on Saturday.

The seminar aimed to seek solutions to improve human resources training
for the maritime sector to effectively tap into the country's potential.

"Sectors facing severe human resource shortages include logistics in
maritime economic development, sea management and laws," said Dr Nguyen Van
Cu, deputy head of the Vietnam Sea and Island General Department under
the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

The number of skilled workers in sea law and management, including coastal
management and management over coastal planning and use of islands, meets
only 20-30 percent of demand, he said.

Many experts attributed the shortfall to the failure of training to meet
the real demands of the work force.

Improving training quality and boosting co-operation between relevant
ministries, universities and agencies were essential to help ease the
shortage, said Nguyen Manh Hien, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and
Environment.

Universities only train a limited number of officials for the maritime
sector. The Vietnam Water Resources University , for example,
trains annually between 70-100 graduates in the fields of marine and
coastal management.

Meanwhile, the training of the hydrometeorology work force has been mainly
carried out by Hanoi and HCM City universities of science.

According to Dr Le Duc Toan, the maritime sector will face a shortage of
more than 800 officers by 2010.-Enditem