Vietnam, Germany cooperate to train 70,000 railway personnel

The agreement was signed recently in Germany in the presence of Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Construction Bui Xuan Dung and representatives of the Vietnam Railway Authority, the Vietnam National Railway Group and the Vietnamese Embassy in Germany.

Under the agreement, the Ho Chi Minh City-based VGU and its German partners will establish the Vietnam-Germany Railway Institute to help implement Vietnam's railway human resources training and development plan approved by the prime minister.

Accordingly, the institute will cooperate with the DB Railway Academy, part of German railway operator Deutsche Bahn, to provide bachelor's and master's degree programs with specialized railway courses for Vietnamese trainees.

Specifically, the cooperation aims to support Vietnam in training around 70,000 railway workers by 2035, including 2,000 people with postgraduate qualifications, 18,000 university graduates and 50,000 skilled technical and operations workers.

The two sides will also cooperate in leadership training for railway management personnel and skilled technical training for Vietnam's railway sector. They will also collaborate on academic activities and develop a railway innovation center.

Cooperation with German partners will contribute to developing the high-quality railway workforce that Vietnam urgently needs, as numerous railway projects are being developed across the country, VGU said.

In Ho Chi Minh City alone, eight additional metro lines will be developed by 2030, bringing the total length of the city's metro network to 255 kilometers.

According to VGU, the DB Railway Academy, part of the German railway group Deutsche Bahn, has extensive experience and expertise in the railway sector, with an "ecosystem" comprising thousands of full-time instructors, 47 training centers and fully equipped cabin simulators, .

It has trained railway personnel for many countries around the world, the university said.