Welcome to the
ASEAN Green Jobs Forum page.
This one-and-a-half-day hybrid Forum aims to gather over 100 participants from four key sectoral bodies within ASEAN, each of which plays an important role in promoting green skills and green jobs in the region such as experts on green jobs and sustainability from the private sector, NGOs, and academia.
The Forum’s primary objective is to share the existing policies and program activities in the region related to the promotion of green skills and the greening of jobs and ensuring a just transition to environmental sustainability. The forum also aims to facilitate discussion on cross-cutting areas for collaboration and cooperation, and to identify cross-sectoral actions to be undertaken in the short and medium terms to promote green jobs and employment in the region.
about
the ASEAN Green Jobs Forum.
The inaugural ASEAN Green Jobs Forum is hosted by Malaysia’s Ministry of Human Resources (MOHR), supported by the ASEAN Secretariat and the Australian Government through the Aus4ASEAN Digital Transformation and Future Skills Initiative. The Forum is organized by The Asia Foundation.
Place :
EQ Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Date :
April 24th – April 25th, 2024
*Attendance for this Forum is by invitation basis.
Agenda ASEAN Green Jobs Forum
WEDNESDAY, 24 APRIL 2024
8:00 – 8:30
REGISTRATION
8:30 – 9:30
(Hybrid)
OPENING SESSION
- Welcome remarks by Dato’ Sri Khairul Dzaimee bin Daud,
Secretary General, Ministry of Human Resources of Malaysia - Remarks by H.E. Tiffany McDonald, Head of Mission, Ambassador
of Australia to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) - Recorded Message by Atty. Jonas R. Leones the ASEAN Senior Officials on Environment (ASOEN) Chair
- Recorded Message by Atty. Jonas R. Leones the ASEAN Senior Officials on Environment (ASOEN) Chair
**Followed by VIP photo session.
9:30 – 10:00
(Hybrid)
SESSION 1 – SETTING ASEAN AGENDA FOR GREEN INITIATIVES
Moderator: Raja Nizam Raja Kamarulbahrin, MOHR
- Dr. Akiko Sakamoto, International Labour Organization (ILO)
- Mega Irena, ASEAN Secretariat
10:00 – 10:30
COFFEE BREAK & GROUP PHOTO
10:30 – 12:00
(Hybrid)
SESSION 2: PARALLEL SESSIONS
SESSION 2A – FINANCING MECHANISMS AND
INCENTIVES FOR PRIVATE SECTOR ENGAGEMENT IN THE GREEN ECONOMY
Moderator: Ken Xie, Australian High Commission
- James Villafuerte, Regional Lead Economist Asian Development Bank (ADB) [Virtual]
- Pimpan Diskul na Ayudhya, Vice President – Sustainable Education Department, The Stock Exchange of Thailand, (ACCMSME)
- Sonia Kumari Selvarajan, Senior Lecturer, University Malaya
SESSION 2B – GREENING BUSINESS OPERATION IN GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO
ENVIRONMENTAL AND
ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY
Moderator: Alex Solkin, The Asia Foundation
- Kavickumar Muruganathan, Sustainability & Policy Lead, Microsoft [Virtual]
- Minh Thao Le, Senior Programme Officer, Cooperation with Business Sector-Programme Reform of TVET, GIZ Vietnam, Green Skills Alumni
- Dr. Noralene Uy, ASEAN Senior Officials on Environment (ASOEN)
- Ruben D. Torres, ASEAN Trade Union Council (ATUC)
12:00 – 13:30
LUNCH
13:30 – 15:00
(Hybrid)
SESSION 3: PARALLEL SESSIONS
SESSION 3A – GREEN INNOVATION AND GREEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Moderator: Sharifah Shahirah, The Asia Foundation
- Dr Koko Haryono, Secretary of the Deputy for Small and Medium Enterprises Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs
- Professor Indah Widiastuti, Universitas Sebelas Maret
- Associate Professor Emma Aisbett, Australian National University [Virtual]
- Mathilda D’silva, Chief Executive Officer, Ocean Purpose Project [Virtual]
- Zaky Naufal, Head of Climate, Founder, Fairatmos
SESSION 3B – MAINSTREAMING GREEN JOBS WITHIN NATIONAL SKILLS EDUCATION SYSTEMS
Moderator: Nadya Subramaniam, The Asia Foundation
- Shang Gao, PhD Asia Pacific Regional Director, Amazon Web Services
- Trisha Suresh, Head of Public Policy and Economic Graph, Southeast Asia LinkedIn
- Rony A. Gobilee, Chief Strategy Officer, HRD Corp
- Nuchjarin Sairadtong, Department of Skills Development (DSD) Thailand (on behalf of ASEAN TVET Council)
- Stephen Yee, Green Skills Alumni, Deputy Executive Director, Singapore National Employers Federation
15:00 – 15:30
COFFEE BREAK
15:30 – 17:00
SESSION 4 – CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR MSMES AS THEY MOVE TOWARDS GREEN JOBS
Moderator: Hannah Najar, The Asia Foundation
- Norm Bunnak, Chief Executive Officer, Villageworks, Cambodia [Virtual]
- Irsyad Ramthan, Head of Growth, Hatch, Singapore [Virtual]
- Amran Sofiyan, General Manager, Cekap Technical Services Sdn. Bhd.
- Sabihah Saleh, Head, Greentech Academy, Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corporation (MGTC)
19:30 – 22:30
DINNER AND RECEPTION AT RENAISSANCE HOTEL, KUALA LUMPUR.
HOSTED BY MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCES, MALAYSIA.
THURSDAY, 25 APRIL 2024
8:30 – 8:45
INTRODUCTION TO THE DAY AND RECAP OF DAY 1
8:45 – 10:15
(Hybrid)
PARALLEL SESSION 5
SESSION 5A – IDENTIFYING OPPORTUNITIES FOR CROSS-SECTORAL
COOPERATION ON GREEN JOBS PROMOTION
Moderator: Marisa Razeek, The Asia Foundation
- Prashil Singh, Director Partnerships, RMIT University
- Phichet Phophakdee, Deputy Permanent Secretary for Education (SOM-ED Chair)
- Guido Recio, Provincial Director, Department of Labor and Employment, ASEAN Senior labour Officials Meeting (SLOM)
- Dr. Noralene Uy, ASEAN Senior Officials on Environment (ASOEN)
SESSION 5B – FOSTERING
INCLUSION IN GREEN JOBS
Moderator: Tengku Nur Qistina, The Asia Foundation
- Mimi Afzan Afza, VP People and Culture, Lynas
- Bouavanh Soukhathammavong, Ministry of Information Culture and Tourism, Green Skills Alumni
- Eric Roeder, International Labour Organization (ILO)
- Anuar Maute, Green Skills Alumni, TESDA Philippines
10:15 – 10:30
COFFEE BREAK
10:30 – 11:30
(Hybrid)
PLENARY ASEAN YOUTH PANEL ON GREEN JOBS
Moderator: Amirah Hamidon, The Asia Foundation
- Eqram Mustaqeem, Malaysian Youth Delegation (MYD)
- Senjaya Mulia, Chairperson, ASEAN Youth Organisation
- Nurfatin Hamzah, Youth Climate Champion Consultant, UNICEF
11:30 – 13:00
PLENARY – REFLECTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Moderator: The Asia Foundation
Guided roundtable discussions and reflections from panellists and delegates.
13:00 – 13:15
(Hybrid)
CLOSING REMARKS
Representative of Ministry of Human Resources, Malaysia
13:15 – 14:15
LUNCH AND CHECK OUT, INVITATION TO MOHR’s GREEN JOBS FAIR, AVENUE K, KUALA LUMPUR
speakers
Meet our Forum speakers.
The Forum will showcase a diverse lineup of speakers, including esteemed representatives from private sector enterprises, civil society groups, ASEAN-affiliated entities, the United Nations, and academic institutions. These experts, distinguished by their strategic focus on ASEAN and proficiency in green skills and green jobs, will share insights and findings from their extensive programs and research across the region.
H.E. Tiffany McDonald
Australia
H.E. Tiffany McDonald is Australia’s Ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta. Previously, she served as High Commissioner to Brunei during its ASEAN Chair year in 2021. As a senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ms McDonald has served in diplomatic roles in Jakarta, Seoul, and London, as Chargé d’Affaires at the Holy See and Deputy Ambassador in Paris. In Canberra, Ms McDonald has held various foreign policy, trade, multilateral, and legal roles. She has delivered diplomatic training across Australian Government agencies, to Masters students, and international diplomatic academies. Ms McDonald holds a Master of Laws from the University of Queensland and a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Laws from the Australian National University. She successfully completed a course on Law and Sustainability at the Smith School at Oxford. In her spare time she enjoys travelling with her husband and adult children, jogging and playing golf. She had the pleasure of growing up in Wagga Wagga, regional New South Wales, where she still enjoys visiting family & friends.
Prashil Singh
Australia
Prashil is a well-rounded Education Executive with RMIT University with a cumulation of experience developed from the public and private sectors in implementing complex and large-scale Australian vocational education, online learning programs, curriculum development, independent skills assessment, and international consulting on TVET capacity building projects. With extensive experience in management and a contemporary understanding of trends in education, Prashil excels in stakeholder value mapping, channel partnership management, and policy planning with governments and corporations across SE Asia. Prashil holds postgraduate studies in Business, Enterprise Development, Education and Leadership.
Associate Professor Emma Aisbett
Australia
Emma Aisbett an Associate Professor at the ANU School of Law and Associate Director (Research) for the Zero-Carbon Energy for the Asia Pacific initiative at the Australian National University. Her current research focusses on International Green Economy Regulation, including how collaboration can support green value chains to provide economic and environmental benefits. In addition to publishing in leading journals in economics, political science, law and engineering, Emma provides expertise to Australian Government and industry, and to international organisations such as the OECD, World Bank, Asian Development Bank and UNCTAD.
Norm Bunnak
Cambodia
Norm Bunnak (Anak)
Director, VillageWorks Cambodia Co., Ltd.,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
VillageWorks is social enterprise and guaranteed member of the World Fair Trade Organization focused on supporting vulnerable, marginalized communities in Cambodia. It works to bring sustainable income and safe economic opportunities to disabled handicraft producers, empowering women home-based workers and reducing rural exodus.
Dr. Koko Haryono
Indonesia
Dr Koko Haryono is the Deputy Secretary for Small and Medium Enterprises Deputy Secretary for Small and Medium Enterprises In Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs of The Republic of Indonesia. He coordinates and provides administrative and substantive support to all elements within the Deputy for Small and Medium Enterprises.Dr Koko’s role is also supporting the Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia in strategic policy making, and preparing substance and policy analysis, support for the implementation of other national priority tasks such as the 2018 Asian Games, Disaster Management, Coordination for Reducing Stunting Prevalence , Bureaucratic Reform, coordination with cross-sectoral government, private, community and carrying out other strategic studies.
Senjaya Mulia
Indonesia
Senjaya Mulia, experienced in the area of Youth Development and Social Volunteerism for more than 12 years in ASEAN and beyond. Before, Senjaya also worked and had some experiences in Banking Industry, Business Development, International Relations, and Technology. Right now, Senjaya focuses on building the AYO Social Enterprise and sitting on the advisory board of ASEAN Youth Organization.
Prof. Indah Widiastuti
Indonesia
Indah Widiastuti, a materials engineering professor, specializes in sustainable materials, particularly recycled plastic and natural fibers like bamboo and wood. Holding degrees from Indonesian and Australian universities, her research emphasizes material performance, water resistance, and applications in vocational education. She also explores public perceptions of recycled products to inform consumer-friendly designs. Currently leading the vocational teacher education master's program at Universitas Sebelas Maret, Indonesia, she advocates for integrating sustainable materials into education and research, underscoring her dedication to advancing both sustainability and vocational training.
Mega Irena
Indonesia
Ms. Irena is responsible for the facilitation and coordination of ASEAN sectoral cooperation in the areas of labour, migrant workers, and civil service matters. Previously her portfolios covered gender and women empowerment, poverty eradication and rural development, social protection and welfare of persons with disabilities, older persons, children, as well as education and youth. She was involved in the development of numerous ASEAN Declarations, ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint, Work Plans of ASEAN Sectoral Bodies, and other key documents. She has also facilitated partnerships and coordination with ASEAN Dialogue Partners, civil society, employers’ organisations, trade unions, and other external parties for many years
Zaky Naufal
Indonesia
Fairatmos’ Offset and Climate Solution Lead specializing in carbon offset, carbon market, decarbonisation initiatives, and sustainability. A passionate spearheader on paving the path towards a greener future. He acts as the frontliner for Fairatmos’ to lead local and global companies to offset their carbon footprint and start their decarbonisation journey. His passion towards sustainability leads him to numerous educational and international events where he is commonly invited as keynote speaker ranging from national universities seminars, experts gatherings, international conferences, and governmental summits. Zaky is geared with additional sets of skills such as understanding CORSIA regulations, nature-based solutions, carbon projects, and corporate sustainability planning.
Bouavanh Soukhathammavong
Laos
Bouavanh Soukhathammavong serves as Deputy Director of the Cultural Training Division, Institute of Mass Media Culture and Tourism, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism. Holding a Master’s in Tourism Management from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, she excels as both a trainer and curriculum developer in cultural, hospitality, and tourism domains. With experience conducting national and provincial level training, she gradually integrates green concepts into her curriculum. Academically, she contributed to tourism product development through journal and conference publications. Bouavanh has enriched Lao’s cultural and tourism landscape, making her a valuable asset in advancing the nation’s cultural and hospitality sectors.
Nurfatin Hamzah
Malaysia
Nurfatin Hamzah is an MSc student in Biodiversity and Conservation who delves into forest stewardship within indigenous communities in Malaysia. With a passion for environmental advocacy and youth empowerment, she co-founded Youths United for Earth (YUFE) to mobilise youths for environmental action through storytelling, grassroots campaigns, and advocacy. Notably, Nurfatin pioneered and co-managed Malaysia's largest online sustainability mentorship program, linking guidance-seeking undergraduates with sustainability professionals. Additionally, she served as a Youth Climate Champion consultant with UNICEF Malaysia, focusing on crafting engaging advocacy materials on climate and environmental issues.
Eqram Mustaqeem
Malaysia
Eqram Mustaqeem is a lawyer and a climate policy analyst at the Third World network. He read law at the International Islamic University of Malaysia and has had experience being part of the United Nations Climate Change negotiation processes. He was a Perdana Fellow for the Minister at the Prime Minister's Department for Religious Affairs working in the Law & Parliamentary Affairs Secretariat and a Young SouthEast Asian Leadership Initiative (YSEALI) Fellow for environmental affairs at the University of Montana. Outside of work, he volunteers at the Malaysian Youth Delegation and Sahabat Alam Malaysia.
Mimi Afzan
Malaysia
Started her career in HR in 1997 after joining a greenfield company, Malaysian Newsprint Industries (subs of Hong Leong Group) as a Training Dev Exec. Moved to Hong Leong Corp and then joined Mieco Manufacturing in 2006 as the HR Manager. Joined Lynas, another greenfield company in March 2008 as the Senior HR Manager, responsible for developing and executing the overall organizational Human Resources spectrum including talent management, compensation and benefits, continuous improvement, employee relations, community and social responsibilities program.
Mimi has also had various other roles that include banking and lecturing.
Dr. Sonia Kumari Selvarajan
Malaysia
Sonia Kumari Selvarajan is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Development Studies, Faculty of Business and Economics at Universiti Malaya. Her previous work experience encompasses roles such as Associate Economist at the Central Bank of Malaysia (BNM), Visiting Research Fellow at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy, and Complutense University of Madrid, Spain. With a PhD in Economics, her expertise in financial development extends to financial integration, financial inclusion, and sustainable finance, primarily in Asia. Dr. Sonia has been involved in national and international research projects, including those funded by the European Union Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, and served as a consultant for various international organizations. She is also an Associate Editor for the Journal of Institutions and Economies.
YM Raja Mohd Nizam Bin Raja Kamarulbahrin
Malaysia
Mr. Raja Mohd Nizam Raja Kamarulbahrin is currently serving as the Undersecretary of the International Division at the Ministry of Human Resources. He joined the administrative and diplomatic service for almost 20 years and served in various positions at different Ministries, such as the Department of the Director General of Land and Mines, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MITI), and the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives. He has also served as counsellor (political economy) in Malaysia's diplomatic mission in Jakarta.
Rony A. Gobilee
Malaysia
With 25+ years in human capital development, primarily at HRD Corp and in multinational manufacturing, Mr Rony specializes in strategic management, training grant operations, and research. He excels in analytics, strategic planning, and training needs analysis. Notable achievements include leading initiatives like national workforce development blueprints, big data analytics strategies, and industrial skills frameworks. I've also spearheaded HRDF schemes like GENERATE and BACK-Up for TVET enhancement.
Amran Sofiyan
Malaysia
Amran is currently a General Manager at Cekap Technical Services Sdn Bhd, where he focuses on Technical Consultancy and New Energy. He graduated from Universiti Sains Malaysia with a B.Eng in Mechanical Engineering and started his career in the oil and gas sector as a drilling and completions engineer in Mexico. Then, he joined the energy efficiency and renewable energy sector in Malaysia. In 2018, he was the project manager for a business process improvement and management project, developing a quality management system in a national oil company. Currently, he heads the recycling program initiative and is developing the ESG roadmap for his organization. He is passionate about the process approach, advocating the PDCA approach to his team. He is always looking for opportunities on how to improve himself, hence in his free time, he teaches Origami and Aikido and bakes scones.
Sabihah Saleh
Malaysia
Sabihah Saleh leads the Greentech Academy at the Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corporations (MGTC), under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability (NRES). She supervises key programs focusing on capacity building and green job initiatives. Previously, she was part of MGTC's Quality Assurance & Corporate Strategy team, managing strategic planning and performance monitoring. With nearly 20 years of experience in corporate strategy, performance management, and quality assurance across industries like telecommunications and education, Sabihah holds a BSc in Statistics from Western Michigan University, USA, and an MBA in International Business from The University of Wolverhampton, UK.
Guido Recio
Philippines
Mr. Guido R. Recio is currently the director of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Laguna Provincial Office in Region IV-A in the Philippines. Years back, he was Chief of Technical Support Services Divisions of DOLE Regions 4A and 4B. He was assigned in the fields of labor standards enforcement, labor relations, employment facilitation, livelihood programs, human resource management, public information activities and serving Filipinos while on post at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office at the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait. Guids, as fondly called, plays golf, runs cross country and plants vegetables. He is happily married with five children.
Ruben Torres
Philippines
Ruben Deloso Torres, a leading Filipino trade unionist, serves as General Secretary of the Asean Trade Union Council (ATUC) and Vice President for International Relations of the National Trade Union Center of the Philippines. Torres advocates for migrant workers' rights, decent working conditions, and ATUC's recognition in ASEAN. With a background in law and government, including roles in the Fidel V. Ramos and Corazon C. Aquino administrations, he navigates labor laws adeptly. Torres, a successful lawyer, holds degrees from the University of the Philippines and engages in labor discourse through his Manila Times column "Labor Matters," reflecting his commitment to workers' welfare.
Dr. Noralene Uy
Philippines
Dr. Noralene Uy is a highly accomplished individual serving as Assistant Secretary for Policy, Planning, and Foreign-Assisted and Special Projects at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in the Philippines. With expertise in climate and disaster risk management and a license in environmental planning, she has an extensive background working with prestigious organizations such as the Asian Development Bank, United Nations Development Programme, and others. Dr. Uy has made significant contributions to research and policy, serving as a Contributing Author for the IPCC Working Group 2 Sixth Assessment Report and receiving recognition for her work in the field of climate change assessment. She holds advanced degrees in Global Environmental Studies from Kyoto University and is actively involved in academia and peer review processes.
Anuar Maute
Philippines
Anuar Maute is a licensed professional teacher and a vocational instruction supervisor at the MBHTE-TESD Provincial/City Manpower Development Center in the BARMM, Philippines. He is a Green Skills for TVET Alumni at Griffith University in Australia and a Young Southeast Asian Leadership Initiative (YSEALI) fellow on Economic Empowerment. He has worked in different organizations both private and public and devoted his life in teaching, entrepreneurship, and skills development to help people gain employment opportunities and sustainable income.
Dr. Shang Gao
Singapore
Dr. GAO, Shang is the Asia-Pacific Regional Director for Global Education, Amazon Web Services (AWS). She leads the team to work with governments, research and educational institutions, skilling agencies and business entities to drive digital transformation and adoption of cloud technology. Shang and her team are also responsible for implementing skilling and digital innovation programs to address the digital skills gap to build the future of workforce that meets industry demand.
Trisha Suresh Chandiramani
Singapore
Trisha Suresh leads LinkedIn’s public policy strategy and programmes in Singapore and Southeast Asia. Based in Singapore, she develops partnerships with governments, multilateral organisations and economic institutions to advance LinkedIn’s vision to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce, with a focus on leveraging data insights from LinkedIn to inform national skills and workforce policies.
Prior to LinkedIn, Trisha spent almost nine years in a consulting role with The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in Singapore and Hong Kong.
Trisha graduated from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy with a Master in Public Policy, and an undergraduate degree in Political Science from Singapore Management University.
Mathilda D'silva
Singapore
Founder & CEO, Ocean Purpose Project
Although she is now a professional environmentalist, Mathilda D’Silva wears many hats and has seemingly boundless energy. In her career and personal life, she has been a singer, actress, TV producer, radio DJ, social media manager, and athlete. Today she is the Chief Executive Officer of Ocean Purpose Project, driving change in the sustainability sector beginning with the ocean in her backyard of Pasir Ris, Singapore. D’Silva is a Murdoch Distinguished Alumni Award 2023 winner and Earthshot Prize Nominee, along with having spoken at COP27— Singapore Pavillion, G20 Indonesia and the UN Ocean Conference.
Irsyad Ramthan
Singapore
Irsyad is the Head of Growth at Hatch, a social enterprise that leverages digital as a tool to empower individuals, accelerate businesses, and create sustainable impact. At Hatch, he applies his expertise in tech, partnerships, and navigating systemic change to accelerate Hatch's ability to drive impact to its customers and beneficiaries.
Prior to his work at Hatch, Irsyad has been working in the intersection between the tech and green spaces since 2018, where his experiences include co-founding a regional green incubator, building digital products to enable green financing in the rice sector, and launching products in the HR tech space.
Kavickumar Muruganathan
Singapore
Kavickumar is a pioneer Singaporean sustainability, ESG & renewable professional in Asia with over 13 years of experience across EMEA & APAC having undertaken senior global & regional roles within some of the world's largest technology, food & beverage, renewable energy & agribusiness corporations. He currently leads Microsoft’s sustainability and policy efforts in APAC for their cloud operations & innovation team.
He is the co-chair of the sustainability working group at the Asia Cloud Computing Association, an executive member of the datacenter chapter of the Singapore Computer Society, a member of the sustainability committee at SGTech, and an adjunct faculty member at the National University of Singapore School of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) University.
Dr. Stephen Yee
Singapore
Dr. Stephen Yee, Deputy Executive Director of Corporate Training and Workforce Transformation Group, is deeply engaged in shaping the future of work. As an active member of the Future of Work under IOE, he contributes to initiatives like the ASEAN Future of Work. Appointed as the Term Chair of AFWC for 2023-2024, he's a founding member of AFWC and advises the Singapore Training and Development Association. Dr. Yee holds a BSc in Management Studies from the University of London, a Master of Project Management with Double Distinction from the University of Adelaide, and a Doctorate of Business Administration from EMIT University, Switzerland. His commitment to lifelong learning is evident in his continuous education endeavors.
Dr. Phichet Phophakdee
Thailand
Dr. Phichet Phophakdee is Deputy Permanent Secretary for Education of the Ministry of Education of Thailand and Secretary-General of Thailand National Commission for UNESCO since 2022, responsibilities covered the international relations of the Ministry.
Prior to this, he has served as the Ministry’s Inspector-General.
Pimpan Diskul na Ayudhya
Thailand
Pimpan Diskul na Ayudhya, with a strong background in sustainability and international development, spent 18 years in sustainable rural development before joining The Stock Exchange of Thailand as Vice President of Sustainability Education. A graduate of Chulalongkorn University and the Fletcher School at Tufts University, she passionately advocates for the harmonious co-existence of humans and nature. She believes in the synergy of public, private, and people partnerships and has spoken at TEDxBangkok about bridging rural and urban life. Committed to promoting sustainable practices, she continually contributes valuable insights towards a more sustainable future.
Nuchjarin Sairadtong
Thailand
Ms.Nuchjarin Sairadtong Director of Training System Division , Department of Skill Development, Ministry of Labour, Thailand Work experience in developing labour skills including skill training, skill testing, skill promotion and licensing. During the past COVID-19 pandemic there have been experiences in adjusting training method to synchronous e-learning and asynchronous e-learning. For policy-making participate in creating short-term and long-term skill development policies to support the industry 4.0, digital technology and future skills, for example, upskilling workers in the industrial sector to adopt technology 4.0 to their industry or upskilling workers to have more digital skills. In addition, also involved on the Mutual Recognition Skill (MRS) project.
Dr. Akiko Sakamoto
Thailand
Akiko Sakamoto is Senior Regional Skills and Employability Specialist at the International Labour Organization (ILO) for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and is currently based in Bangkok, Thailand. She has been working in the field of skills development and technical vocational education and training (TVET) for 20 years, including at ILO Headquarters in Geneva and its field offices in New Delhi, Bangkok, and Manila. She has undertaken policy advisory, project formulation, and project implementation work, covering a wide range of skills-related issues. These include: formulation of national policies on skills development; reform of skills/TVET systems; skills for enhanced productivity and employability; anticipation of skills demands; qualifications framework and skills recognition; skills for green jobs; and skills for the informal economy workers and disadvantaged groups. She holds a PhD in education with a focus on workforce skills development from University of London, UK. Her publication includes Skills and the Future of Work: Strategies for inclusive growth in Asia and the Pacific, as co-editor in 2018.
Eric Roeder
Thailand
Mr. Eric Roeder boasts two decades of service to the United Nations, specializing in diverse sustainability projects. Notable contributions encompass mitigating dust storms with UNCCD, promoting energy efficiency via UNEP, fostering smart agriculture with UNESCAP, and enhancing rural infrastructure in Laos through ILO. Eric's private sector involvement champions inclusive and self-sustaining growth, exemplified by his initiative linking companies with tsunami monitoring infrastructure. As UNESCAP Network Coordinator, he propelled PPP for resilient infrastructure aligned with SDGs and Paris Agreement. He spearheaded efforts revitalizing the South Aral Sea basin, culminating in a 2023 UN resolution. Eric now thrives as ILO Technical Specialist, focusing on Green Jobs and Just Energy Transitions in ASEAN countries.
Le Minh Thao
Vietnam
Ms. Thao Le is Senior Programme Officer in TVET Programe, GIZ Viet Nam. She plays an important role on fostering cooperation between industry and the TVET education system for the development of a demand oriented TVET system at both implementing and policy levels. She has more than 16 years-experience in implementing a number of projects on sustainable development, Corporate Social Responsibility, children’s and human right promotion, Skills development and Human Resource development, etc. Before joining GIZ, she worked as a Project Coordinator in VCCI and Business and Children’s Rights Consultant in UNICEF Vietnam to advance the Business For Results’ agenda.
Ms. Thao holds a BSc in Resource Management from The University of Melbourne and a MSc in Business Administration from La Trobe University, Australia
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For additional information, please contact:
Alexander Solkin, at alexander.solkin@asiafoundation.org
with copy to Amirah Hamidon at amirah.hamidon@asiafoundation.org