Vietnam is in the process of industrialization striving to overcome its backwardness to become a middle-income and industrialized country by 2020. This goal can be accomplished only if it succeeds in urban and rural industrialization nationwide. The process, nonetheless, is progressing much more slowly than it is expected. | ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT No. 205, September 2011 PROMOTING INDUSTRIALIZATION AND ENHANCING HUMAN RESOURCES IN VIETNAM by Assoc. Prof., Dr. BUØI QUANG BÌNH* Vietnam is in the process of industrialization striving to overcome its backwardness to become a middle-income and industrialized country by 2020. This goal can be accomplished only if it succeeds in urban and rural industrialization nationwide. The process, nonetheless, is progressing much more slowly than it is expected. In addition, gaps between zones and provinces are widening due to plenty of causes, especially differences in human resources. It is the quality of human resources that causes a bottleneck to the shifting and distribution of resources and limited production factors. Thus, the enhancement of human resources contributes to stimulating the country’s industrialization and sustainable economic development. Keywords: industrialization, the quality of human resources, gap between provinces 1. Industrialization and quality of human resources Industrialization has brought many countries achievements in economic development by changing modes of production and hence becomes the target for many developing countries. Industrialization can be carried out in different ways depending on each nation’s conditions. However, a large number of studies in the world have presented common conditions for industrialization based on success stories in many countries with various socioeconomic features. Industrialization originated in the . in the mid-18th century when steam-powered machines were first introduced. They were then applied to industries of textile, railways, marine transport, etc. and opened a new era in industrial development. Thriving manufacturing sector made the . the world’s richest country at the time. Industrial development spread to North America and West Europe in mid-19th century, and Asia at the end of the 19th century with Japan being the first to be .
