Vetsaphong centre creates more job opportunities for Lao workers
Vetsaphong centre creates more job opportunities for Lao workers
The Vetsaphong Skill Development and Testing Centre, which is a government controlled facility, is cooperating with foreign companies to help bring Lao labour up to international standards.
In recent months the centre has signed collaborations with a number of Japanese companies including Mihashi Co., Ltd, Tokyo Mokkoujou Arts and Crafts Furnishings, Shimizu Corporation and Nissen YK Co., Ltd to work on Lao skill development.
Representatives of different Japanese companies and their partners yesterday visited the centre to explain the responsibility and working of a Japanese labour force especially dealing with the issues of safety, quality and environmental impact.
Some of the Japanese companies, however, especially those involved in construction, still need more young labour working in this sector, said Shimizu Corporation's Deputy General Manger, Mr Kazutaka Arima.
Laos has a lot of young labour, which can have the opportunity to develop their skills by working in Japan, he said.
The most important thing for any Lao person who would like to work in Japan is that they should be able to speak and understand the Japanese language and culture as well as pay strict attention to quality, Mr Arima said.
The visit shows that Japanese companies as well as their partners know what products Laos can produce if created by skilled Lao labour.
He believed that cooperation between the Japanese companies and the centre will help to develop Lao skills and bring them up to international standards.
It will also create more job opportunities for Lao labour to work within the country and overseas.
In comparison with other Asean countries, Lao labour faces severe challenges due to its relatively low quality.
To develop Lao skills, the companies in cooperation with the centre will try to get better ways of training.
The centre is the first modern and complex vocational training centre in Laos, which includes electrical, woodcraft, food and hotel, welding and repair sections.
More than 1,000 people from different provinces have passed through the centre and will receive their certificates at a presentation ceremony at the end of this month, centre director Mr Yothin Vetsaphong said.
The new centre has helped to improve workers' skills and create more job opportunities.
It has signed contracts with 25 Lao companies under which they will employ people who have completed one of the training programmes there.
Most of the technicians working with various companies come from other countries as Laos can supply only a limited number.
There is no shortage of workers but they are poorly trained, so the new centre will aim to correct that by turning out people with the necessary skills.
The facility will also help to give Laos a more competitive edge in the region when the country becomes part of the Asean Economic Community at the end of this year.
