Brunei’s ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) has initiated a regional skilling programme to increase the digital competency of ASEAN’s workforce in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Harnessing Impact with Resilient Employability Digitally (HIRED) will operate as a virtual training and mentorship platform and will be a legacy project under Brunei’s ASEAN chairmanship in cooperation with the ASEAN Future Workforce Council (AWFC).
ASEAN-BAC Chair YB Siti Rozaimeriyanty DSLJ Rahman launched HIRED at the ASEAN Business and Investment Roundtables: Skills for a Digital Age on September 29.
HIRED’s human capital development aspirations target unemployment, reskilling and upskilling for the ASEAN workforce to be more competitive in the fourth industrial revolution. Graduates, employees and employers will be eligible to participate in the programme.
“We are able to provide (an) opportunity for the needs of the people in Brunei and also ASEAN to gain the relevant skills that they fail to receive to reach their full potential productivity to become employable and relevant to today’s industry,” said YB Siti Rozaimeriyanty.
The ASEAN secretariat has also committed to helping HIRED’s roll out to the whole region, according to Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Economic Community Satvinder Singh.
“To make more inclusive, not just to target the young but also to target the white-collar older employees who today are some of the key decision-makers in many SMEs in the region,” said Singh of HIRED’s target audience.
HIRED also aims to harness existing initiatives by collaborating with organisations for mentorship and training opportunities.
The first HIRED workshop on data analytics for employers was held on October 6, held in collaboration with the UK International Education team, Department for International Trade and UK-ASEAN Business Council.
Future programmes will also be held in collaboration with partners including Darussalam Enterprise (DARe), the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) and AFWC.
The virtual roundtables were attended by over 800 senior figures and experts from both the public and private sectors which featured two panel discussions: focusing on the future of work and skills for the digital age respectively.
The roundtables are part of ASEAN-BAC’s business-related events held in conjunction with Brunei’s ASEAN chairmanship. More information about HIRED, including upcoming training dates, can be found through Brunei’s ASEAN-BAC website.
