Japan will co-host "Workshop on Vocational Training" as part of G8-BMENA Partnership Initiative

September 22, 2005

A "Workshop on Vocational Training" will be held in Amman, in Jordan on September 28 (Wed) and 29 (Thu). The workshop will be co-hosted by the Governments of Japan and the Hashemite Kingdom of the Jordan in cooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Representatives of Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) countries, G8, international organizations as well as regional organizations and business associations will participate in the workshop.
The G8 of the Sea Island Summit held in June last year came up with the "G8-BMENA Partnership Initiative," in recognition of assistance for the BMENA countries' voluntary reform efforts in the political, economic and social fields. To follow-up the Initiative, Mr. Ichiro Aisawa, Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, announced at the first meeting of the "Forum for the Future" held in Rabat (Morocco) last December the holding of this workshop as part of Japan's assistance in the field of vocational training.
The BMENA region needs to address urgently the issue of expanding job opportunities for the rapidly growing young population. Dr. Tayseer Al-Nahar Al-Noaimi, Secretary General, Ministry of Education, Jordan, and Mr. Shiro Sadoshima, Deputy Director General, Economic Cooperation Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan, will co-chair the workshop to share information on the employment situation and challenges, highlighting good examples in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and will discuss, among other matters, the best ways to meet the needs for expanding job opportunities. It is expected that through the workshop the BMENA countries will advance their efforts in building a comprehensive framework to expand job opportunities with a focus on TVET including identification of the tasks to be addressed by the BMENA countries and the fields for possible assistance from G8 and cooperation with international organizations and regional business associations. The results of the workshop will be shared at the second meeting of the "Forum for the Future," which will be held in Bahrain on November 11 (Fri) and 12 (Sat) this year.

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