The contribution of tertiary education to sustainable economic growth: the evidence from the fishery sector in Vietnam

The past economic growth model of Vietnam has relied on rapid investment, cheap labour and use of natural resources as a cut-price source of energy, while little attention was given by industry or Government towards investing in science and technology improvements. The resulting rapid economic growth has come at a cost in the form of environmental problems, now understood to threaten future growth. This applies to many sectors on which Vietnam’s growth has been built, including export-intensive industries such as aquaculture-based fisheries. The use of obsolete technologies and the tendency to re-circulate wastewater and chemicals in publicly used watercourses has led to negative environmental externalities on a range of water users and inferior product reputation in global markets.
While technological change and innovation typically originate from research and development activities of universities, the role of tertiary education and research in regional economic development is still poorly understood and controversial in Vietnam. This study aims to examine the long-term relationship between tertiary education and economic growth assumed to operate through five main channels. These are technological change, human capital, demographic and environmental values change, good governance of the State, and entrepreneurship. It will also examine the opinions of firms in a specific sector on the potential contribution of tertiary education. Empirical work will be conducted with the fishery sector in the Mekong Delta where the bulk of fish-farming, -processing and -exporting occurs (aim to interview 200 fish operations) as well as stakeholders located in key universities/vocational education and training (VET) and government agencies in relevant cities.