Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) under its Skills for Jobs programme hosted a two-days Virtual Skills Exhibition (VSE) on the 25th and 26th November 2020. The event was conducted through a high-end digital platform, wherein the UK vocational sector organizations exhibited their service offerings through virtual stalls and engaged with nearly 230+ Indian participants who joined the platform virtually.
Day 1 : Sanjay Valsangkar, Senior Programme Manager, FCDO chaired the session
Day 2 : Kaustubhi Harit, Skills Policy Lead, FCDO chaired the session
The sessions included several senior keynote speakers contributing and sharing their insights. These included:
- Mr. Alan Gemmell OBE, Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for South Asia, British Deputy High
Commissioner, Western India - Mr. Manish Kumar, MD and CEO, National Skill Development Corporation
- Ms Lesley Davies OBE, Chairperson, UK Skills Partnership
- Mr. Gavin McGillivray, Minister Counsellor Development, British High Commission
- Mr Jonathan Ledger – Department of International Trade
During the inaugural session, Mr. Alan Gemmell in his address spoke about the concerted effort from both countries to strengthen bilateral ties and scope for partnerships in the skill development sector to scale up current efforts. Mr. Manish Kumar resonated the importance of country level partnerships and highlighted the importance of digital learning environment to support the skills ecosystem in the post-covid scenario.
Some of the expertise showcased by UK exhibitors included building qualifications, providing training capacity building support, developing assessment infrastructure, augmenting digital delivery capabilities
among others.
The platform provided a great opportunity for stakeholders from both countries to network and identify potential collaboration opportunities. The event witnessed an encouraging turnout on both the days, with an average of more than 230+ participants joining in.
Under the Skills for Jobs Programme, more such initiatives will be curated for next year to promote networking and collaborative opportunities for skills fraternity in UK and India, with the objective to learn, transfer expertise and promote partnerships with one another.
