‘Experts’ are calling for a comprehensive investment strategy to encourage university students to enrol in STEM subjects, Vietnam Plus is reporting. The percentage of students enrolled in STEM subjects in Vietnam in 2021 was 28.7 percent compared to 46 percent in Singapore, 50 percent in Malaysia, 35 percent in South Korea, and 39 percent in Germany, the state-owned publication says.

Why it matters: Vietnam wants to position itself as a high-tech manufacturing powerhouse, however, at present it is at the lower end of the value-add spectrum. To remedy this, the country is spending a great deal of time and resources trying to woo international tech firms, most prominently in semiconductor manufacturing. That said, there is a dearth of skilled labour ready to work in high-tech manufacturing–which this article makes clear–that may need to be addressed first.