ILO High-Level Panel on Skills for Competitiveness

The side event, organized by the ILO at the WTO Fourth Global Review of Aid for Trade on 9 July in Geneva, provided an opportunity for sharing research findings and policy approaches on the role of skills development in translating trade openness into sustainable growth of productive and decent work. Diverse research and survey data show that many firms rank finding adequately skilled workers as a major constraint to their business. New research from the WTO documented that, in particular, such difficulties impede small and medium sized enterprises from connecting to and benefitting from global value chains.

 Panel

Moderator:
  • Ms Charlotte Petri Gornitzka, Director-General of Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency (Sida)
Keynote speakers:
  • Mr. Guy Ryder, Director-General, International Labour Organization (ILO) pdf
  • Mr. Pascal Lamy, Director-General, World Trade Organization (WTO) pdf
Panelists:

Ms. Marion Jensen, Economic Research and Statistics Division, WTO - Skills and Export Competitiveness for the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
Ms. Christine Evans-Klock, Director, Skills and Employability Branch, ILO - Skills for Trade and Economic Diversification STED: A methodology to align skills development with sector growth strategies
Mr. Sylvain Giguère, Head LEED Division, OECD - Skills for competitiveness: Finding the right path to quality job creation
Mr. Jeffrey D. Lewis, Director, Economic Policy, Debt and Trade Department, World Bank - The right skills for the job? Rethinking Training Policies for Workers

Country representatives:

Mr. Hong Choeun, Head of National Employment Agency (NEA), Cambodia - Skills for Competitiveness: Cambodia's Case
Mr. Md. Fazlul Hoque, President of Bangladesh Employers Federation (BEF), Bangladesh