EU finances Vietnam tourism €11 million

The European Union (EU) has funded €11 million into a program, “Environment and Society Responsible Training (ESRT)” in Vietnam. Vietnam will contribute 1 million euro.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, at a press conference yesterday, unveiled this five-year program which aims to promote the vision of ESRT service and its contribution to the implementation of Vietnam’s tourism development strategies.
The program comprises of three main activities, namely, policy and regulation improvement; competitive ability in public and private partnership; and vocational training and education.
During the next 5 years, more than 5,000 staff member in the tourism sector from disadvantaged areas will be trained. It is expected that the number of skilled staff members in the private sector will increase by 10 percent annually. 200 tourism managers and trainers will undertake training courses by 2014. By 2016, around 1,000 managers of small and medium-sized enterprises will be trained.