AseanOutlook.com – The ASEAN Declaration Human Resources Development for the Changing World of Work has been adopted by the 36th ASEAN Summit in June 2020. Minister Dao Ngoc Dung explains why Viet Nam, as ASEAN Chair, believes preparing the region’s work force is a priority.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), marked by modern scientific and technological advancements, has led to robust development in all area sand the on going transformation of the global economy from natural resources based to knowledge-based.
These days, under development can be addressed through human innovation, which, unlike natural resources, is an unlimited resource. ASEAN, which has a population of 650 million people, is now the 5th largest economy in the world. Yet, its Member States are at varying levels of human development.
The 2019 Human Development Report shows that Singapore, Malaysia, and Brunei have very high human development index (HDI) values (above 0.8); Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia have high HDI values (0.7-0.8); while VietNam, Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar are still in the average HDI group (0.56 –0.9) despite the considerable progress they have made in recent years.
ASEAN is also emerging as a center of development and innovation of the world. Yet, there is high disparity in terms of the human capital index (HCI), a tool that “measures the contribution of health and education to the productivity of the next generation of workers.”
The Global Human Capital Report 2017 shows that Singapore, with HCI of 73.28, is ranked 11th in
the world. Respectively, Viet Nam and Indonesia, with a score of 62.19, are ranked 64th and 65th.
Meanwhile, Lao PDR is in 84th place with HCI of 58.36; Myanmar in 89th with 57.67; and Cambodia in 92nd with 57.28. ASEAN Member States are seeking to improve the quality of their human resources since they are the drivers of innovation and productivity in a knowledge and digital economy.
