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New Approach to Skills Training to be Piloted in Mekong Delta by Japan and ADB

SOC TRANG, VIET NAM (9 October 2008) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Viet Nam today signed a $1.3 million grant project to pilot a new approach to skills training for the poor and ethnic minorities in Tra Vinh and Soc Trang, the two poorest provinces in the Cuu Long (Mekong) River Delta. The project aims at boosting the poor and ethnic minorities' chances in the job market or enabling them to launch small businesses to help improve the living standard.

The $1.3 million grant is financed by the Government of Japan through the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction.

Vice Minister Dam Huu Dac of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), and Ayumi Konishi, ADB Country Director for Viet Nam, signed the agreement. Tomohiro Fujiyama of the Japanese Embassy and senior officials of local government agencies witnessed the ceremony.

The Demand-Driven Skills Training for Poverty Reduction in the Cuu Long (Mekong) River Delta Project includes capacity building for skills training providers, and provision of a comprehensive package of relevant skills training for employment, including post-training support such as career guidance, job placement services, and links with organizations providing credit for business start-ups.

The crucial features of the project are to identify opportunities for sustainable employment before training courses are organized and delivered, and link skills training directly to employment and income generation.

"In order for ethnic minority groups and disadvantaged population to escape from poverty, people need jobs. And for people to have good jobs, they have to have appropriate skills," said Mr. Konishi at the signing ceremony. "While we work with the Government to make more economic opportunities available through the country's growth, it is also essential that everyone will be fully prepared to participate in and benefit from growth. We strongly hope that lessons learned from this three-year pilot project will be incorporated and replicated in the Government's National Targeted Program on Poverty Reduction."

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