Ho Chi Minh City is positioning itself to compete for skilled workers not only with other Vietnamese cities but also with regional centres such as Singapore and Bangkok.
Speaking at a forum on attracting global talent to support the city's next phase of growth, Quach Ngoc Tuan, deputy director of the municipal Department of Finance, said the city's growth model was taking shape around three main areas.
The central area would serve as the city's “brain”, concentrating financial and service activities and attracting foreign investment. The northern growth pole, covering the former Thu Duc City and Binh Duong areas, is expected to shift from traditional manufacturing towards smart, green and innovation-driven industries.
The south-eastern area, including the former Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Can Gio areas, is set to build on its strengths in the marine economy, next-generation logistics and clean energy.
Tuan said the city had identified six key tasks to shift its growth model from quantity to quality, with attracting investment closely tied to developing a skilled workforce.
Quach Ngoc Tuan, deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Finance, speaks at the event (Photo: organisers).
From the business perspective, Vo Thi Bich Thuy, operations director at Manpower Vietnam, said the competition for highly skilled workers was no longer confined to Hanoi or Danang.
“We will be competing with Singapore and Thailand, and I believe Ho Chi Minh City could become an international talent hub within the next five to 10 years,” she said.
Duong Khai Dung, standing vice-chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City chapter of the Chinese Enterprises Association in Vietnam, said the city currently has more than 21,000 active foreign-invested projects and more than 168,000 foreign residents.
Although those figures have grown significantly over the past two decades, he said they remained modest compared with the city's potential.
The challenge, Dung said, was not simply recruiting international professionals but giving them a stable, predictable policy environment and services that support their families.
International professionals increasingly consider whether they can build a long-term life in a city, rather than simply whether they can find a job there. Retaining talent therefore requires an urban ecosystem that meets the needs of entire families, from schools and healthcare to housing and community life.
Angus Liew, chairman of Gamuda Land Vietnam, said transit-oriented development and public-private partnerships could help create an urban environment attractive to international talent.
Convenient transport directly affects the experience of foreign professionals, he said.
“In Kuala Lumpur, foreign professionals can drive themselves to work, but in Ho Chi Minh City we cannot do that easily because of the sheer number of motorbikes on the roads,” Liew said.
Angus Liew, chairman of Gamuda Land Vietnam, and Pham Binh An, deputy head of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies, speak during the discussion session (Photo: organisers).
Metro development could therefore play a significant role in improving urban liveability. Gamuda Land welcomed the city's plans for metro lines, expressways and better connections with Long Thanh airport.
Drawing on Kuala Lumpur's experience of building about 100km of metro lines in six years, Liew said he hoped Ho Chi Minh City could deliver on its plan to develop about 255km of metro lines by 2030.
Infrastructure and liveability are not the only hurdles. Administrative procedures were also identified as a major obstacle to hiring foreign professionals.
While work permit processing can theoretically take as little as 10 to 20 days, speakers said the full process of recruiting and completing the paperwork for a senior executive such as a chief executive can in practice take six months to a year.
Participants called for further digitalisation of administrative procedures, faster processing and transparent application tracking so companies and workers can monitor their cases.
Another proposal was to develop a “Talent City Branding” strategy, similar to the way companies build an employer brand.
The city could also expand programmes to attract overseas Vietnamese professionals, particularly those working in strategic sectors such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors and advanced manufacturing.
