A joint seminar in Tokyo gathered Japanese policymakers, industry leaders, and Indian officials to discuss long-term cooperation on skilled workforce mobility and human resource development. Organized by the Embassy of India in Japan and ASEAN ONE Co. Ltd, the event attracted 250 representatives from leading Japanese companies, academic institutions, and workforce mobility stakeholders. Discussions focused on expanding Japanese language and testing centers in India, strengthening collaboration between Japanese employers and Indian skilling institutions, and enhancing workforce mobility pathways through institutional cooperation.
Toshiaki Nishikawa, Chairman & CEO of ASEAN GROUP Co. Ltd., expressed optimism about future workforce cooperation and proposed a Japan-India personnel exchange program involving 50,000 people over the next decade. Vandana Gurnani, Secretary of the Ministry of Labour & Employment, emphasized India’s role as a trusted global workforce partner. She highlighted India’s demographic strength, robust skilling ecosystem, and institutional reforms that position the country as a reliable source of skilled manpower for global economies, including Japan.
Gurnani elaborated on India’s workforce preparation ecosystem, which includes higher education institutions, industrial training institutes, apprenticeship systems, digital skilling platforms, and career services. She stressed the importance of strengthening Japanese language readiness, sector-specific skilling, testing infrastructure, skill mapping, occupational alignment, demand aggregation, ethical recruitment practices, and institutional collaboration between India and Japan. Participants recognized potential for cooperation across various sectors like manufacturing, caregiving, construction, automobile maintenance, hospitality, agriculture, IT, digital services, and green economy sectors.
Discussions also highlighted the significance of digital public infrastructure and employment facilitation systems in establishing transparent and scalable workforce mobility pathways.
