To facilitate 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) today jointly organizedthe first Virtual Global Skill Summit (VGSS) with the Indian Ambassadors /High Commission representing India Missions from ten nations. The summit aimed at institutionalizing a robust mechanism for exchange of information on skill requirements of countries and the skill availability in India.

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 & Textiles co-chaired the Summit.

Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Electronics and Informational Technology (IT), Government of India graced the summit, Dr Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, Minister of State for Education and External Affairs and Shri V Muraleedharan, Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs also graced the Summit with their presence.

Aligning with the vision of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the Government envisions positioning the country as a preferred global hub for trusted skilled and certified workforce, and making India the skill capital of the world. This shall be achieved by creating world-class training infrastructure in the destination countries, propelling international mobility, and strengthening ties with foreign countries in specific areas to boost job opportunities for the youth.

Addressing the Summit, Shri Piyush Goyal stated that it is remarkable to see the whole of the government approach today and have all ministries and India Missions, come together on a single platform bringing in convergence through skill development and drive partnerships fostering global skill mobility. He emphasised on in-depth sectorial and geographical mapping of available skills, related training infrastructure, stringent inspection processes, and language training.

Shri Goyal also emphasised that serious negotiations need to be undertaken for dual degree and joint degree programs. This will facilitate opening of new opportunities for the Indian youth to work abroad. He said we must encourage on-the-job training and quality of skills should be maintained. This is an appropriate time for organising this Summit and skill development can be the foundation for an Aatmanibhar Bharat.

Shri Dharmendra Pradhan said that following Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s One Govt One Mission approach, this Virtual Global Skill Summit has been the opportune platform towards fostering partnerships for global skill mobility, creating robust policy framework, benchmarking with global standards and ensuring social security for Indian skilled professionals abroad, with all key line ministries, departments and country missions on a common platform. Shri Pradhan also said as we align ourselves to the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s 3T strategy which focuses on Trade, Tourism and Technology, India has huge potential to meet the global demand of skilled workforce. In digital economy & industrial revolution 4.0, India has become a natural leader which comes from our inherent ability to adapt to technology. With our efforts to impart high quality and new age skills, India has the potential to be the skill capital of the world, he added. The Minister further said that we should create stable model ensuring quality standards and work closely with the existing private players who already have the knowledge about the global supply chain market. It is imperative that we map job opportunities through our India missions, build capacity and train on relevant skill sets accordingly and encourage placements. With public-private partnership, multi-ministry approach, forward-looking policy framework, Government is set to play the role of facilitator in scaling up skill mobility by connecting Indian skilled professionals with global opportunities with a short-term and a long-term plan, he added.

The summit deliberated on skill harmonization and bench marking of qualifications, quality standardization, capacity building, knowledge exchange to promote global mobility, employability, and readiness for the youth to join the global workforce. The demographic dividend has given India a competitive advantage- almost 54% of India’s population is above 25+ years which presents a good opportunity to provide overseas employment opportunities to the Indian youth in countries facing acute& ever-growing shortage of workforce.

Indian Ambassadors from ten different countries namely Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, Mauritius, Singapore, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom deliberated in this summit. 

NSDC International has recently conducted study to assess skilled demand in 16 destination countries (2022-2027). Basis the analysis, it has been reported that employability and high-quality skilled workforce will be the key challenge in the coming years, thereby, mapping of the opportunities for the Indian workforce is needed. United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Germany are the top countries demand for the most skilled workforce in the future.

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MJPS/AK