South-South cooperation in action: hospitality skills for the future

The Lao PDR is once again enhancing the quality of vocational education in the tourism and hospitality sector through renewed collaboration with Vietnam’s Hue Tourism College. This year, 75 Lao teachers from 9 provinces are benefiting from 4 specialised training courses delivered by experienced instructors from Hue Tourism College. A regional centre of expertise supported by Luxembourg from 1999 to 2013, the college is now sharing its knowledge and skills with Lao teachers through South-South cooperation. This has been made possible by an agreement between the Department of Technical and Vocational Education and Training, Ministry of Education and Sports in Lao PDR, and Hue Tourism College, facilitated by the Skills for tourism, agriculture and forestry (STAF) programme.

This year, 75 Lao teachers from 11 vocational schools in 9 provinces are benefiting from 4 specialised training courses : barista, bartending, Vietnamese cuisine, and bakery. Each course provides two weeks of hands-on training led by experienced instructors from Hue Tourism College. Two courses are being held in Vientiane capital (Vietnamese cuisine and bakery), while two are taking place in Luang Prabang (barista and bartending). Teachers were nominated by their colleges to participate, ensuring that skills are disseminated across Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions from all of the STAF programme’s partner provinces.

The course on Vietnamese cuisine ran from 11 August 2025 and concluded last week with representatives from the Lao Ministry of Education and Sports, STAF programme donors and LuxDev colleagues experiencing first-hand the results of the training through a delicious Vietnamese-style lunch hosted by the teachers, showcasing the skills learnt over the last two weeks.

This initiative builds on the longstanding partnership between Luxembourg, Vietnam, and Lao PDR in vocational education. From 1999 to 2013, Luxembourg supported the development of Hue Tourism College, helping transform it into a high-quality training institution. Today, Hue has become a regional provider of expertise, transferring knowledge and skills to Lao teachers through South-South cooperation. The same activity was first organised last year, and its success prompted the STAF programme and its partners to renew and expand it this year.

By investing in teacher training, the STAF programme ensures that capacity building goes beyond individual skills : Lao teachers will transfer their upgraded knowledge to hundreds of students in vocational schools across the country, raising the overall quality of tourism and hospitality training. This chain of collaboration—Luxembourg’s support to Hue, Hue’s expertise shared with Laos—is a concrete example of effective South-South cooperation, contributing to stronger education systems and better employment prospects for young people in the region.

The STAF programme is co-funded by Lao PDR, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and the European Union. It is implemented by the Lao Ministry of Education and Sports, and LuxDev, the Luxembourg Development Cooperation Agency.