Mekong Institute (MI), with support from the Thailand International Cooperation Agency, completed the Peer to Peer Learning Program between Thailand and Lao PDR under the project of “Improving Institutional Capacities for Promoting Employability in the Greater Mekong Subregion.” The activity was designed to help strengthen capacities of skills development institutes in building a competitive Lao PDR workforce that will meet demands of prospective Thai investors.
With the growing aging population in Thailand, along with the government’s preparations for Industry 4.0, the country’s workforce is reorienting its skills towards services and technologically-driven jobs. Moreover, Thailand is expected to shift its labor-intensive production sites to Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Vietnam (CLMV). In response to this, Thailand and MI have invested in deepening regional cooperation in the area of skills development to build a complementary and robust labor force in CLMV.
From December 21 to 23, 2020, 10 Lao PDR representatives were exposed to training strategies targeted to increase the employability of workers by promoting the management of technical and vocational education systems. Specifically, the sessions presented policy and institutional arrangements, as well as progress on national skills standardization and recognition benchmarks. Discussions also covered ways forward to strengthen the resiliency of the labor market against the impacts of COVID-19.
In addition, the collaborative workshop sessions were designed to foster stronger relations among skills development institutes from Lao PDR and Thailand for deeper coordination and synergy.
This is the fourth online workshop on employability promotion, with Lao PDR representatives attending at Crowne Plaza in Vientiane, Lao PDR, while others participated via Zoom conference. At the end of the sessions, participants will be required to transfer the knowledge and skills gained from the MI online workshop—as part of their action plan implementation—to more skills development officials and trainers in Lao PDR.
