Dharmendra Pradhan and Piyush Goyal co-chaired the first Virtual Global Skill Summit

On November 15, 2022, to facilitate the overseas mobility of the skilled workforce, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI), Ministry of Education (MoE), and Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) jointly organized the first Virtual Global Skill Summit (VGSS) with the Indian Ambassadors/High Commission representing India Missions from ten countries.

The summit’s main objective was to formalize a strong system for exchanging data on India’s skill availability and other countries’ skill requirements.

The summit was co-chaired by Shri Dharmendra Pradhan; Union Minister for Education, Skill Development, and Entrepreneurship, and Shri Piyush Goyal; Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and Textiles.

According to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s goal, the government wants to establish India as the world’s “skill capital” and make it the preferred worldwide centre for a trained and certified workforce. Increasing career prospects for youths will be accomplished by building world-class training infrastructure in the countries of destination, encouraging international mobility, and fortifying relationships with other countries in specific areas.

According to Shri Piyush Goyal; Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and Textiles, “It is remarkable to see the government’s approach today, with all ministries and India Missions coming together on a single platform to promote global talent mobility through partnerships and convergence through skill development”. He stressed the need for thorough sectoral and geographic mapping of the available skills, as well as for relevant training infrastructure, rigorous inspection procedures, and language training. He also stressed the necessity of serious negotiations for joint and dual degree programs and new opportunities for Indian youth to work overseas would be made possible by this. He said that we must support on-the-job training and preserve the quality of skills. The timing of this summit is ideal, and skill development might serve as the foundation of an Aatmanibhar Bharat.

“This Virtual Global Skill Summit has been the suitable platform for fostering partnerships for global skill mobility, creating concrete policy frameworks, benchmarking with global standards, and providing social security for Indian skilled people overseas, with all essential line ministries, departments, and country missions on a common platform”, according to Shri Dharmendra Pradhan; Union Minister for Education, Skill Development, and Entrepreneurship.

As we align ourselves with the 3T strategy of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, which focuses on trade, tourism, and technology, Shri Pradhan added that India has enormous potential to meet the global demand for skilled workers. India has emerged as a leader in the digital economy and the fourth industrial revolution because of its inherent potential for technological adaptation.

“With our efforts to impart high-quality and new-age skills, India has the potential to become the world’s skill capital,” Shri Dharmendra Pradhan added. He also said that, “We should develop a stable model that ensures quality standards and collaborate closely with the current private players that are already familiar with the market for global supply chains. Through our missions to India, we must map out job opportunities, create capacity, train in the necessary skill sets, and push placements. With public-private partnerships, a multi-ministry approach, and a forward-looking policy framework, the government is prepared to play the role of facilitator in advancing skill mobility by connecting Indian skilled professionals with international opportunities with a short-term and long-term plan”.

Through skill harmonisation and qualification benchmarking, quality standardization, capacity building, and information exchange, the summit discussed ways to improve global mobility, employment, and young workforce readiness. Nearly 54% of India’s population is over 25 years old, which gives the country a competitive advantage. This creates an excellent opportunity to offer Indian youth employment opportunities overseas in countries facing an acute and ever-growing workforce shortage.

The summit was attended by Indian ambassadors from 10 countries, including Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, Mauritius, Singapore, Tanzania, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.

Also read: NSN weekly newsbytes on skills, education and training- 15112022 https://nationalskillsnetwork.in/nsn-weekly-newsbytes-on-skills-education-and-training-15112022/

Recently, National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) International undertook a study to evaluate skilled demand in 16 destination countries (2022–2027). Based on the analysis, having a highly skilled and employable workforce will be the main problem in the upcoming years. As a result, it is necessary to map out the opportunities for the Indian workforce. Germany, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are the top countries looking for the most skilled workforce.