Hanoi – Representatives from 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gathered in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi on Saturday to discuss measures to strengthen people-to-people connectivity and quality employment through human resources development.

The discussion is also the theme of the sixth APEC Human Resource Development Ministerial Meeting which drew the participation of over 100 delegates.

Addressing the meeting, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said over the past 25 years, APEC has become an economic forum representing some 40 percent of the world population and contributing 54 percent of the world Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Human resources play a leading role in maintaining the dynamic and fast growth of the region, said the prime minister.

The world, including APEC, is facing challenges of unsustainable growth recovery, high unemployment rate, imbalance between skilled labor supply and demand as well as social instability, Dung told the meeting, calling for further cooperation and experience sharing among member economies in order to revive the economic growth and ensure social and human development.

According to statistics by the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) at the meeting, the demand for more workers at all skills levels continues to grow, creating critical skill shortages in some sectors.

It forecasts that economic costs of skills shortages on Asia- Pacific could reach 10 trillion U.S. dollars till 2030. Source: Xinhua