DEVELOPING HUMAN RESOURCES FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN SOUTHEAST VIETNAM AFTER ADMINISTRATIVE MERGER: TOWARD SUSTAINABILITY AND CLIMATE ADAPTATION

By Lê Thị Lệ
DOI: 10.37550/tdmu.EJS/2025.04.678

The administrative merger in Southeast Vietnam has fundamentally reshaped regional governance, spatial configurations, and development priorities, creating urgent requirements for a more integrated approach to science and technology (S&T) human resource development. To assess the implications of this restructuring, the study employs a mixed-methods design that combines institutional diagnostics, comparative policy analysis, and quantitative evaluation of workforce indicators. Empirical data are sourced from national statistical agencies, ministerial datasets, provincial development reports, and international benchmarking studies. The analysis focuses on the S&T workforce within the newly configured administrative units of expanded Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, and Tay Ninh, examining competency structures, spatial distribution, coordination mechanisms, and post-merger system dynamics. The findings reveal significant disparities in qualification profiles, weak cross-provincial linkages in training and research, and limited alignment between workforce planning and emergent regional development trajectories. Despite these constraints, the merger presents opportunities to consolidate training capacity, strengthen innovation networks, and enhance talent mobility. The study argues for a coordinated regional S&T human resource strategy supported by institutional harmonization, a functionally differentiated training system, AI-enabled workforce planning tools, and expanded regional–national–international cooperation to advance a knowledge-based, climate-adaptive development pathway for Southeast Vietnam.