In countries such as Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mongolia, the Philippines and Viet Nam, despite the high unemployment rate among college graduates, vocational training paths are not chosen and high school graduates and their parents value academic studies over vocational studies and aim at white collar jobs unrelated to industry demands. To improve the status of vocational training and attract youth to where there is demand, competency based training is needed. A National Qualification System (NQS) needs to be constructed.