Taiwan Today
Date: May 27, 2016
The Taiwan-initiated Skills Development Capacity Building Alliance under the Asia-Pacific Economic
Tsai Meng-liang, deputy director-general of the Ministry of Labor’s Workforce Development Agency, speaks at the 2016 Symposium on Workforce Development for Quality Growth in Asia-Pacific Region May 26 in central Taiwan’s Taichung City. (Courtesy of Workforce Development Agency)
Cooperation commenced its first forum May 26 at Taichung City Hall, underscoring Taiwan’s ongoing efforts to boost employment and foster growth throughout the region.
Titled the 2016 Symposium on Workforce Development for Quality Growth in Asia-Pacific Region, the three-day forum in central Taiwan features presentations by high-ranking government officials and labor experts from Australia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Vietnam. The event marks a significant first step for the new alliance, which was formally given the green light earlier this month at the annual meeting of the APEC Human Resources Development Working Group in Lima, Peru.
“The alliance has already drawn considerable attention as youth unemployment is a major issue confronting many economies in the region,” said Tsai Meng-liang, deputy director-general of the Ministry of Labor’s Workforce Development Agency, which co-organized the symposium in conjunction with Taichung City Government’s Labor Affairs Bureau.
Taiwan’s WDA first proposed the alliance in May 2015 at the annual meeting of APEC’s HRDWG in Boracay, the Philippines. The initiative was formally established at this year’s gathering in Lima May 5-10 after receiving support from 14 member economies in the working group, including the U.S., mainland China and Peru, APEC host for 2016. [FULL STORY]
