INTRODUCTION: Vietnam has been a member of ASEAN (Association of South East

Asian Nations) for more than 20 years. Globalization is a necessary trend, and either
ASEAN or Vietnam is an exception. With the purpose of promoting an equal economic
growth, establishing an economic sector with enhanced competitiveness and the ability
to integrate fully with the global economy, the ASEAN Economic Community is
established (AEC). This is a major milestone in the regional economic integration
agenda in ASEAN, offering opportunities in the form of a huge market of US$2.6 trillion
and over 622 million people. If ASEAN were one economy, it would be seventh largest
in the world with a combined gross domestic product of $2.4 trillion in 2013. It could be
fourth largest by 2050 if growth rate continued. With over 600 million people, ASEAN's
potential market is larger than the European Union or North America. Bordered by the
People's Republic of China and India, ASEAN has the world's third largest labor force
that remains relatively young. As a member of ASEAN, VN is bound to have many
opportunities to integrate with the global economy and develop.
Proposition 1: Difficult but not impossible. In fact, both large and small businesses
have to compete in order to attract customers attention. Therefore, in order to enhance
competitiveness, those local businesses should invest in improving their infrastructure
(assembly line, machines and technologies) 3D printing: helps to make samples
quicker + cheaper material production. This technology applied in producing
mechanical products, cars, robots, or in agriculture,...
other ways: drive down products costs, advertise products, catch up with
consumers needs on the market, do research and adapt new marketing
strategies,...These will help them attract more customers. In Lm ng, there are
currently >5000 enterprises, most of which are small- or medium-sized, even supersmall. In general, these enterprises work separately; most are lacking in capitals,
technologies, experiences in operating and managing, or brand advertising...On the
verge of bankruptcy, these enterprises must be willing to improve their productivity. The
bold decision to invest in installing modern assembly line and technologies of
Ladophar JSC (Joint Stock Company) to create the vastly consumed Artichoke in both
domestic and foreign markets is a valuable lessons for other businesses.
Proposition 2: AEC is an open community which allows free exports and imports as
well as trading and labour exchange. Therefore, workers from VN can sign up for
exporting programme to other countries to find jobs. Furthermore, travelling within
ASEAN will need no visa, and this provides even more job opportunities. Labourers
can also have the chance to interact and gain more experiences, and specialized skills
in modern countries in the sector. Besides, there have been more and more new
occupations in the recent years, which demand for a huge labour.
AEC has only allowed labourers from 8 professions to travel within the sector to find
jobs after the community is established (accountancy, architecture, engineering,

dentistry, doctoring, nursing, investigation and tourism) the number of specialized

and highly-trained labourers coming to VN is not substantial compared to the total
amount of our countrys workforce.
Also, at ASEAN skills competitions, VN has claimed its position with many top rankings
(Won first-prize 3 times out of 10 times participating in the Skills competitions) + always
recognised as one of the top 3 countries leading in speciality)
considerable potentials in being ready to join AEC
Proposition 3: You know, there are always solutions for a puzzle, even a hard one. As
I have mentioned earlier, there are many jobs opportunities now, which need no special
skills. And at the regionals competition, VN has shown other countries in ASEAN that
our labourers skills are much enhanced now. Even if the majority of our workforce are
semi-skilled or underskilled, as long as they dont have any mental disorders or any
abnormalities in their minds, they can still be trained. And yes, youre right, that is
something that the governments should take into consideration. Our government are
opening more vocational schools and technical centres to improve this. The point is,
VN is in the Gold population period, which never happens twice to any country. That
is, if we dont take advantage of it now, then when? If we refuse to take the
opportunities, our country will eventually move on to the aging population period, which
will decrease drastically both the amount and productivity of our workforce, which will
result in serious economic downturn. Moreover, aging population period causes
burdens to every aspect of a country: society, politics, economy, culture, etc., I assume
this is not good for the circumstance of VNs workforce. So, I suppose, we should strike
while the iron is hot. For the wealth gap, I think it is not as bad as you thought. Wealth
gap exists in every nation, every era throughout human beings history. It cannot be
erased. If VN integrates with ASEAN and the global economy, our peoples lives will
gradually become better. Though there is financial disparity between the rich and the
poor, they will not be as much as they are now since the poor themselves can improve
their income.
Wrap-up: I, too, appreciate your concerns.
To sum up, I want to express my viewpoints on this matter:
- Small enterprises in VN can compete with larger ones when joining AEC by lots of
methods.
- Machinery will not cause employment, because Vietnamese workers can find many
jobs in AEC. Also, they can have the chance to gain more experiences and enhanced
their skills.
- Vietnam is in its Gold population period, and we should make use of it instead of
wasting it because of our workforce being unqualified. The wealth will not be dramatic
since our countrys living standard will eventually improve.

To maximize all the opportunities when joining AEC, Vietnamese government should
assist enterprises, provide training sessions for managers to adapt new strategies,
invest in improving machines and adapt new technologies, open more vocational
schools all over our country to improve the workforces specialization, focus on
restructuring the economy, changing new growing method in order to enhance
experience and competitiveness, bridging the gap with the other developed countries in
the sector.