Vietnam
attracts millions of tourists each year to sample its cuisine, but the number
of locally qualified chefs is insufficient to meet demand.
Establishing a professional training programme
for chefs will enable more local cooks to get good jobs at the growing number
of restaurants in the country, many of them located in hotels, experts have
said.
In Ho Chi Minh City alone, employment centres
receive 20 requests from hotels and restaurants for chefs every week, but they
can find, on average, only two candidates for those jobs.
Vietnamese cuisine plays a key role in the
tourism sector, according to Nguyen Nha, head of the Bep Viet ( Vietnam Chef
and Cuisine) project, who spoke at a recent conference on the shortage of chefs
in the country.
Last year, during a workshop on the tourism
sector, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan said that Vietnam's chefs will
receive more recognition if a new training programme is established.
Nha said researchers, trainers, authorities
and enterprises should collaborate on the development of such a programme.
Vo Duy Lan, a lecturer at Sai Gon University,
said that only 33 per cent of the chefs working at top restaurants in Ho Chi
Minh City have received formal training.
Ly Sanh, chairman of the city 's Professional
Chefs, said that chefs must receive professional training in order to keep up
with the burgeoning tourism sector.
However, he said that training and enrollment
methods should shift from short to longer courses at vocational schools. The
courses should offer training in all of the country's regional cuisines.
Chiem Thanh Long, director of the Binh Quoi
Tourism Village, said the curriculum should include all the basic Vietnamese
dishes from each region.
Nha suggested that courses be offered on the
internet as well.
Phan Ton Tinh Hai, head of the Mint Culinary
School, emphasised that modern equipment and techniques should be used during
training.
Pham Thi Thanh Phuong, lecturer at Sai Gon
University's Culture and Tourism Faculty, said that many chefs are needed at
stand-alone restaurants and hotels.
According to the Vietnam National
Administration of Tourism, the country has 8,556 hotels. Chefs are critical to
the success of many of these hotels.
The demand for chefs in Vietnam is high. The
Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said that the tourism sector will need
an additional 620,000 employees by 2015.
The ministry said the number of chefs will
increase by 8 per cent a year until 2015.
In addition, many countries are seeking more
native Vietnamese to cook at restaurants, particularly in the Middle East .
At the Hanoi Tourism College's Food Processing
Faculty, an average of 2,000 cooks are trained each year, and all of them find
jobs with a good income.
The average initial salary for a full-time
cook is VND3 million ($144) per month, and after one month's probation, the
salary increases to VND4-6 million ($192-288).
However, a professional chef who has received
more extensive training can earn $500-1,000 per month.
If more high-quality chefs are available,
restaurants and hotels will not need to rely on foreign chefs, she added.
The workshop, organised by Sai Gon University
, was attended by culinary researchers, leaders of training institutes and
schools, and culinary experts.
VIR / VNA
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