- 3 months ago
How can ASEAN and the EU work together to build a skilled, a future-ready workforce? H.E. Sujiro Seam, EU Ambassador ro ASEAN to discuss talent, education, and industry collaboration from student mobility to digital and green skills under the SCOPE-HE initiative.
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00:00all right thank you for tuning into Niagawani with me Nabila Khalida and right now we're putting
00:22the spotlight on the future of our region's workforce through higher education where we
00:27want to strengthen talent and skills development especially when it comes to industry collaboration
00:32and also international partnerships and happening right now in Kuala Lumpur the EU ASEAN policy
00:38dialogue on higher education brings together ministers policymakers and education leaders
00:43from across the regions under the theme of enhancing talent and skills development through
00:48internationalization so it's all about collaboration universities governments and
00:53industries working together to equip our youth for the jobs of tomorrow so joining me now to
00:58discuss further is his excellency Sujiro see the ambassador of the European Union to ASEAN thank
01:04you for joining me and taking the time to speak with me today how are you I'm very well thank
01:08you and thank you for having me on Astrawani amazing amazing so let's begin with the bigger picture this
01:15policy dialogue highlights how internationalization and mobility can actually shape the region's talent
01:20pipeline so from your perspective from EU's perspective what is higher education cooperation with ASEAN as
01:26a whole it's important for the partnership and can actually foster and actually contribute to the
01:34building in a more inclusive and innovative future ready region when it comes to talent well we're here in
01:40Kuala Lumpur Malaysia and we're hosted by the Malaysian chairmanship of ASEAN one of the main achievements of the
01:48Malaysian chairmanship of ASEAN is certainly the adoption of the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 which
01:54gives the strategic roadmap for the region for the next 20 years education is a part of the priorities
02:00and for good reasons education is also a priority for the European Union in particular through our flagship
02:06initiative Global Gateway which is an offer to invest in infrastructure in five key priority areas
02:13transportation digital energy research and education and health so naturally education is a joint priority
02:22for ASEAN and the European Union and it translates into the plan of action we implement the strategic
02:29partnership between ASEAN and the European Union for the years 2023-2027 this plan of action is a very
02:35thick document it comprises 161 actions so it's a very comprehensive document but if you look carefully
02:42education appears in 23 of these 161 actions so certainly education has the top spot among the
02:49priorities which are shared by the ASEAN and the European Union and that is for good reasons because education is an
02:55investment in people and it's an investment in the future
02:58So in essence this kind of dialogue can actually prepare people not just for today's jobs but also in the market also industries in the future that's still emerging so your excellency a strong theme throughout this dialogue is synergy with the
03:12industry so Europe has long experience linking universities industries and also employers through
03:17apprenticeships and also research and vocational training so how does the EU foster this whole ecosystem
03:23and what best practices could ASEAN adopt to better align graduate skills with also market and industry needs right
03:30now I think you're a perfect right to underline the centrality of technical vocational education and training this is certainly the link with
03:41which manages to bridge the gap between the world of studies students in universities and the world of labor on the labor market and working with the industry so TVED by definition is the part of higher education where the industry or the labor market is the most involved and we're very happy that with the European Union through our scope higher education project which stands for the sustainability
04:07sustainability
04:08sustainable connectivity
04:09package in higher education we managed to put the emphasis on TVED by definition is the one of the three priorities for the project because it's what can best prepare students young professionals to find their place and do recognition of their skills and talents on the labor market and find placement in the industry and for the industry it's also a good investment to groom those young professionals in the industry to
04:25find their place and do recognition of their skills and talents on the labour market
04:30and find placement in the industry and for the industry it's also a good investment to groom
04:36those young professionals so that the skills and talents they develop are adapted to their
04:42requirements and needs and Malaysia definitely look up to EU when it comes to fostering the EU
04:48talent sorry the TVET talents here so let's talk about how we can actually close the skills gap
04:55especially in fast growing areas like semiconductors and also green technology which is a vital part of
05:00ASEAN's green manufacturing ecosystem so what role can education policy on international
05:05cooperation play in preparing the workforce of these strategic sectors and how can both EU and ASEAN
05:11actually work together for future proof skills of this talent in this fast moving industries
05:17well the support of the European Union to ASEAN has not started with the scope HE project we had
05:23many many generations of projects before the scope HE education project which is a current project
05:31but if we look into the past our focus has been in two directions the first one is to allow
05:38internationalization of education which means a particular effort on the mobility of university
05:45students to allow them to study abroad to enlarge their horizon and diversify their experience but
05:51also the mobility of faculty members because it's important that people who teach and not only
05:57people who study have this international experience so we managed to do that through projects which
06:05were there in place between ASEAN and the European Union before the current project scope HE we also
06:11managed to do that through Erasmus which is certainly the best known project in the world for the mobility of
06:18university students but also the mobility of faculty members and the partnerships between universities
06:25our focus has not only been on the mobility of university or faculty members it has also been on
06:31the development of dual degrees or joint degrees one of the issues people face when they move overseas
06:39on the labour market is difficulties with the recognition of their qualifications so to that effect the mutual
06:45recognition of degrees qualifications is certainly a cornerstone which is the prerequisite for the
06:52internationalization of of the labour force we have quite a long and complete experience in that
06:59regard in the European Union because our labour market has been integrated through the common market
07:05the single market which is a market where not only goods and services and capitals can move freely but also
07:10workers so to that effect it's important for the workers to have a recognition of their qualifications
07:17through their university degrees so this is naturally one of the key priorities for our action with ASEAN
07:25and I think we're progressing well I think the most successful part of Erasmus is the Erasmus dual master degree
07:33joint master degree which gives a recognition of a degree here in the ASEAN region but also a degree which
07:39is recognized in the European Union and indeed mobility has been a cornerstone for EU's education
07:46philosophy and it's not just building skills but also trust and collaboration across cultures as well
07:51so if we think beyond formal education the workforce is also changing so there's a growing emphasis on a long
07:56line lifelong learning and digital literacy is now the basic requirement so how can both regions EU and
08:02also ASEAN ensure that upskilling and reskilling opportunities are accessible and not only to university
08:08graduates graduates but also meet career professionals and workers affected by technological change
08:12and also advancements and also adapting automation also AI
08:17well the world is changing and it's changing quickly I came here in Malaysia for the first ever
08:24ASEAN Artificial Intelligence Summit in Malaysia so the phenomenon that you have been describing of
08:31new technologies gearing up very very quickly and changing our lives and not only our professional
08:38lives but our everyday lives is certainly a phenomenon that we fully recognize when it comes to education
08:45I think the the way forward is to recognize that phenomenon and to address it let me just name two of the
08:53projects that we are supporting one is the global gateway flagship in Cambodia which is about strengthening human
09:00capacity in the digital and green transition so it's addressing exactly what you're saying
09:07the other one is a project which is more recent because it was launched under the Malaysian
09:12chairmanship of ASEAN earlier this year during the first ASEAN Summit in May here in Kuala Lumpur
09:18and it's the establishment of a center of excellence for the green transition with a focus on micro small and medium
09:25size enterprises so of course qualification skills and talent will be a part of of this amazing so
09:33when we talk about this dialogue it's not just about sharing ideas but it's also about aiming to
09:37actually turn ideas into action so from your standpoint your excellency what would it be a successful
09:43EU-ASEAN higher education partnership look like and how can we actually ensure that today's discussion
09:50lead to a tangible or successful benefits for students institutions and also employers alike
09:55and for right now we've seen two strengthening collaboration in research and innovation especially
10:00through Horizon Europe and a recent academic connectivity grant so how can both regions EU and ASEAN
10:06ensure that policy discussions here translate into a real long-term impact as a whole well the starting
10:12point is exactly what we're doing today it's a policy dialogue which brings together people from both
10:18regions from the European Union and from ASEAN to allow discussion among practitioners and experts
10:25on higher education on how to improve things this policy dialogue is a unique opportunity also for
10:31networking and this is certainly the first stepping stone towards a closer cooperation and partnership you
10:39need to have a good network to develop cooperation and partnership and this is I think the the main added
10:45value of meetings such as today it allows people to come together to compare experience and to
10:51exchange on the best practices so that they can take that away and implement it in their own setup when
10:58it comes to building a system for the the future and how we can translate that into concrete
11:06outcomes I think we just have to go by the numbers because the numbers never lie so for Erasmus we've had over
11:14the past 10 years 13 000 students from ASEAN region studying in Europe with the support of the Erasmus
11:22project and in the other direction 7 000 of university students from the European Union studied in ASEAN with
11:30the assistance of the Erasmus project when it comes to research because as you mentioned this world is
11:37changing very rapidly so we also need to anticipate the changes for tomorrow so that requires research and
11:44development in technology and innovation so this is where our Horizon Europe the European Union research
11:53project kicks in this is the single largest and best funded public research project in the world
11:59for the years 2021-2027 it benefits from a budget of 96 billion euros so you can look anywhere in the world you
12:06will never find a better funded or larger public research project it is a project which does not
12:13only benefit companies or research organizations in the European Union but also in the rest of the world
12:20so in the ASEAN region if we go by the numbers the horizon Europe initiative supported 90 projects
12:27involving 109 research institutions across the ASEAN region and that represents an investment of 10.6 million euros
12:35so after all ultimately all this effort into internationalization skills alignment also research
12:41cooperation are about empowering young people so finally your excellency for the many students and
12:46young graduates watching right now what message would you share with them especially ASEAN's next
12:51generation as they step into an increasingly global and competitive job market it's just to take
12:58advantage of all the opportunities that are offered to you this is a competitive world but this is also
13:05a kind world partners like the European Union have schemes and projects in place to make sure that you can
13:13take advantage of the opportunity of studying overseas with scholarship projects with a network of universities
13:21with the assistance of your faculty members and overseas study abroad project in your universities so
13:28if you are a young student in in the ASEAN region and you are looking for opportunities to study abroad
13:36please look at Europe amazing there was his excellency his excellency suji rosim ambassador of the
13:44European Union to ASEAN thank you so much for your insight and what's clear is that higher education
13:48isn't just about academic excellence it's about equipping people with the right mindset
13:53right skills and also mobility to thrive in faster changing world not just to find jobs
13:57but to shape the industries of tomorrow so thank you once again for joining us and that's all for
14:02now I'm Nabila Kalira thanks for watching
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