The Ministry of Labor has been committed to reinforcing technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and young talent cultivation and spared no effort in promoting skills development in collaboration with international partners. Following the Memorandum of Understanding with WorldSkills UK signed on May 20th this year for Bilateral Skills Excellence Partnership, the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) signed another Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Jamaica’s Human Employment and Resources Training/National Service Training Agency Trust (HEART/NSTA Trust, hereinafter referred to as “HEART”) on August 25th for Skills Development Partnership. With the establishment of the partnership, Chinese Taipei and Jamaica started a new chapter in international cooperation and will together pursue excellence in skills development.
Since joining WorldSkills International (WSI) in 1970, Chinese Taipei has sent best Competitors from nation skills competitions to participate in WorldSkills Competitions (WSC) and always ranked high in the Competitions. In 2019, Chinese Taipei won third place in the WSC held by Russian in Kazan. In the same year, in order to strengthen international cooperation, Chinese Taipei and WSI signed a Memorandum of Understanding and established the world’s second WorldSkills Capacity Building Centre (CBC). The purpose of CBC in Chinese Taipei is to join hands with African, Asian and other developing countries on skills development. It was this CBC platform that contributed to the robust partnership with Jamaica.
HEART was established in 1982 by former Prime Minister Edward Seaga and is directly affiliated to the Prime Minister’s Office in Jamaica. HEART is the leading human capital development agency in Jamaica and the largest provider of TVET in Jamaica and the Caribbean. Conceptualized HEART, WorldSkills Jamaica was established in 2002 and joined WSI in 2004. It aims at proactively helping youth strengthen their skills.
In 2020, WorldSkills Jamaica managed to start and facilitate skills cooperation with Chinese Taipei after participating in the Skills Cooperation Symposium held by WDA. In the same year, we initiated skills exchange in Autobody Repair and Mobile Robotics. This MoU will advance TVET cooperation between Chinese Taipei and Jamaica in areas such as vocational standards, skills exchange and training.
The Director-General of WDA Shih Cheng-Yang stated that Chinese Taipei has long been committed to youth skills cultivation and always scored high in WSC. Chinses Taipei is very pleased to make use of its skills soft power to help the international community and collaborate with other countries in skills development. Young people in Chinese Taipei are encouraged to share and exchange skills with more countries. This MoU not only maintains the momentum of cooperation with Jamaica but serves as the foundation stone of elevating regional skills development. For more information on international skills cooperation, please visit https://wsc.wda.gov.tw/