Advanced Overseas Research in Vietnam (Truong Thu Ha)

I have conducted my field study in two major cities in Vietnam, Hanoi and Hue from April 11 to 27, 2014. The purpose of this overseas research is twofold: to know more about the current issues of the labor market in Vietnam and to gain more knowledge regarding the statistical methodology utilized for my dissertation.

For the first purpose, through the introduction of Professor Saito of the Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies, I have had the opportunity to visit the International Labor Organization Office in Hanoi (ILO). At the ILO office, I had discussions with Mr. Nguyen Van Binh, a national project coordinator and Ms. Do Thi Thu Huong, a project assistant in the Vietnam-ILO Industrial Relations Project in order to learn about the current status of the labor force and labor market in Vietnam. Although the projects focusing on gender have been closed for a while, they were kindly provided me with useful documents and reports from which I have gained much more understanding on the gender issues,which is closely related to the topic of my dissertation.

Also thanks to an arrangement of Professor Saito, I have had a meeting with the Deputy Director General, Mr. Mai Duc Thien, of the Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs. Through the discussion, he gave me a detailed picture of the current situation of the labor market in the country, which contributed to deepening my awareness on problems and challenges of the labor market in Vietnam.

For the second purpose, I flied to Hue city to meet with Professor Shimamura of GSICS who was conducting a project in Hue University to receive his advices on the econometric models of my dissertation. Although Professor Shimamura is on his sabbatical this year, he has kindly spent time giving me very useful suggestions and practical implications on how to improve the methodology of my dissertation even after his office hours.

The field trip was very fruitful and important for me to gain the necessary knowledge and skills to improve my dissertation. I would like to thank Professor Keiichi Ogawa for being my mentor since I was accepted into the doctoral program and for his generous financial support for the field trip. I am also thankful to Professor Shimamura and Professor Saito for their valuable supports and suggestions.I am indebted to Professor Shimamura for his caring when I met an accident in Hue. I also appreciate Ms. Umeno’s preparations for our meetings at the ILO office and the Ministry of Ministry of Labor, War invalids and Social Affairs in Hanoi.