This month, I was asked to testify before a Senate Committee about the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA). Signed on 4th March 2019, IA-CEPA creates a framework for Australia and Indonesia to unlock the vast potential of the bilateral economic partnership, fostering economic cooperation between businesses, communities and individuals. Full transcripts of my hearing are available here.
This invitation followed a written submission made by Sustainable Skills to the Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT) in August, which outlines the importance of IA-CEPA in enabling a much improved understanding of how Indonesia’s workforce skills opportunity is central to Indonesia’s social and economic development. Australian experience in delivering industry-based training can help Indonesia to deliver job-ready trained workers. Our organisation welcomes the significant opportunity IA-CEPA opens for world-class Australian training providers to contribute to skilling the Indonesian workforce into the future.
In recent years, Sustainable Skills has had a particular focus on Indonesia, largely because of the scale of the opportunity for Indonesian people. In our experience, there is no doubt whatsoever that a focus on vocational education and training is a fundamental plank in delivering to Indonesians a valuable outcome from improved relations with Australia.
Between 4th and 6th September, I travelled to Perth to attend the 17th edition of Africa Down Under. Drawing on our previous experience as the Industry Skills Council for the Resources and Infrastructure Industries, the largest African mining-focused exhibition outside of the continent itself is a must attend for our organisation. In the past years, Sustainable Skills delivered TVET programs in a number of African Countries including Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, Zambia, and two cross-countries projects with the African Mineral Skills Council, and Bigen Africa.
Lately, our team has worked on new tender submissions and an education project led by Sustainable Skills Director, International Development Services based in Perth, Lee Jackson, which underpins our recent experience with the ‘Head of School’ Skills Development project in Fiji to develop innovative e-learning programs. Watch this space to find out more about Sustainable Skills upcoming projects.