The Pacific Skills Summit will assess and aim to develop the framework of necessary skills for future jobs in the region.

With the theme, Innovation and Sustainable Skills for the Blue Pacific, the focus is to ensure Pacific Islanders are able to compete not only in the regional space but also the global market.

President of Nauru and Pacific Islands Forum Chair and one of the key engineers of the summit, Baron Waqa says the Pacific is unique and as such, there is a need to collectively address the region’s skills needs.

“Knowledge sharing always matters, but it matters a great deal to small Pacific Island Countries. The third element to the partnership is the promotion of next-generation skills to identify, develop and then use those new skills, we will need to maximize future opportunities of changing industry practices.”

Meanwhile, President Waqa has also called on the need for a Pacific Skills Portal to establish a regional labour market and skills data platform through which national and regional research data on the international labour market and workforce development can be easily accessed and shared.

The two-day summit which is being held at the University of the South Pacific’s Laucala Campus in Suva will conclude tomorrow.