Conference on Designing Effective Local Employment and Skills Strategies

This conference is hosted by the Council of Labor Affairs and co-organised by the OECD LEED Programme.  It will take place in Taipei, on 1-2 October 2007.

Asian economies are confronted with steep challenges in relation to the labour market. With the economy growing at a rapid pace, industry is becoming more diversified and job requirements more sophisticated. Inflows and outflows of migrant workers create imbalances in the labour market and put pressure on local economies. Human resources and skills development strategies must be adjusted to the new situation and must adapt their focus to new issues: upgrading the skills of the low-qualified, integrating immigrants in the labour market, attracting and retaining talents. Many of these issues have to be linked up and addressed locally.

These are difficult challenges for those involved in labour market policy and vocational training as the related policy areas are often highly centralised and lack capacities at local level. It is therefore vital to make progress on these issues if Asian local economies are to reap the benefits of globalisation and lift their living standards in a sustainable way.

A number of innovative policy initiatives will be discussed at this conference in Taipei. The conference will aim to extract useful lessons from local experiences, while also looking at examples from selected OECD countries.

For more information, please contact Ms. Hsiangfen Chen at the Council of Labor Affairs or LEED’s Deputy Head, Mr Sylvain Giguère.