Australia and Vietnam’s horticulture growth opportunity

By Belinda Tardini and Don Thomson

Vietnam is one of the rising stars for Australian horticulture exports. In 2022–23, horticultural exports to Vietnam grew by $26.5 million, up 15.8 per cent on the previous year, to $193.9 million. It elevated Vietnam from third to second largest export market for Australia’s horticulture producers.

Don Thomson, the Director of Gardenridge, was touring the south of Vietnam in 2017, exploring the growing horticulture potential in this region. On this trip, Don became acutely aware of the plight of many Vietnamese people, particularly in rural areas where they live in extreme poverty. The inequality and disadvantage existing in parts of Vietnam is largely attributed to disparity in education which in turn impacts on employment prospects. Don wanted to find a way to create change in a meaningful way and he believed education held the key. With his particular interest in horticulture and noting that horticulture training was virtually absent in Vietnam, Don saw an opportunity to create a horticulture education and training program that could make a tangible difference to the disadvantaged people living in the Mekong region of Vietnam, as well as elevating the standard of horticulture and shoring up an emerging trade relationship. Once back in Melbourne, Don put his ideas into action, and Vocational Training Southeast Asia was born.

The Project

Don Thomson founded Vocational Training Southeast Asia (VTSEA) in 2018, a not-for-profit charity foundation that brokers support from governments, educators, students, and the private sector, to deliver workplace-based occupational training activities to disadvantaged students and to seek out employment opportunities for these students.

For this project, VTSEA is working with DNA Training Solutions, the Hau Giang Provincial Centre for Vocational Training and Job Promotion, and Activity International, to deliver a horticulture course equivalent to the Australian Certificate II to 30 disadvantaged students living in Hau Giang, and then to find them employment. The course is expected to take 18 months, with the first year dedicated to online horticulture training being taught delivered to a dedicated classroom in Hau Giang province from Australia via Skype. The teachers will visit Hau Giang in the middle of the first year to assess the students’ emerging horticulture skills. The students will come to Australia for three months at the conclusion of the 12 months’ theory, to work within Australian horticulture-based businesses. Their horticulture skills will be assessed at this time.

In this partnership: VTSEA will coordinate the project stakeholders, as well as lobbying governments and the private sector for much-needed funds to help pay for this project. Also, VTSEA will be working with the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) and the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) in Vietnam to gain accreditation for the horticulture course in the future; DNA Training Solutions will be providing the teachers and the teaching resources to deliver a horticulture course over an 18-month time frame. Stewart Detez, the Head of Horticulture and Landscaping at DNA Training, will be the lead trainer, designing and developing the Vietnamese AHC20422 Certificate II in Horticulture program; the Hau Giang Provincial Centre for Vocational Training and Job Promotion will be providing the classrooms, accommodation, and local transport for teachers when they visit mid-course. Activity International, which is a registered NGO in Vietnam, will facilitate the legal requirement to teach in Vietnam, as well as providing quality project management on the ground in Hau Giang.

Supporting Horticulture Industry’s Growth

When the students come to Australia for three months at the end of their course, they will be placed with horticulture businesses located around Melbourne. They will be exposed to leading methods of horticulture over this time. The students can take the knowledge and skills learnt during the work placement back to Vietnam. This will enhance their employment prospects back home and raise the standards within Vietnamese horticulture. The burgeoning tourism industry along the South China Sea promises to provide strong employment opportunities for these students. Some of the students who excel will be coached to become future trainers in horticulture in Vietnam, helping to make the project sustainable.

How to be a part of the Solution

Help VTSEA shore up an emerging trade relationship in horticulture, lift horticulture standards and improve the employment prospects of some of the world’s most disadvantaged.

VTSEA requires all types of people to assist whether offering work placement opportunities for international student’s, financial support, and volunteer industry experts to visit the students in Vietnam.

To find out more on how you can be a part of building and enhancing horticulture relationships with Vietnam, contact Don at don.thomson@vtsea.com or Belinda at admin@dnatraining.com.au.

To learn more about VTSEA, visit www.vtsea.com.