Presentation by Ms. Laura Pineiro Nogueira, Chief Technical Advisor for TVET/Skills for Tourism Project of LuxDev, Luxembourg, for the 11th Meeting of the OECD Southeast Asian Regional Policy Network on Education and Skills, 24 November 2021 Ms. Laura Pineiro Nogueira, Chief Technical Advisor for the TVET/Skills for Tourism Project of LuxDev, provided an international development cooperation perspective. She presented how her project has promoted upskilling and reskilling opportunities in Lao PDR’s tourism and hospitality sector, and described the impact of these interventions.

1. LAO/029 – Skills for Tourism Project
Adaptation: education, skills development and employment

2. Skills for Tourism Project
• Project duration: September 2016 – December 2022
• Technical vocational education & Skills Development
• Tourism and Hospitality
• Overall objective: promote sustainable and inclusive growth of the tourism and hospitality
sector in Lao PDR to contribute to poverty reduction
• Success:
• employment
• wages above minimum
• 2016 T/H Labour market demands
• Current situation: 30,000 people lost their jobs (52%) employment contraction from January
2020 till mid 2022
• COVID-19: impact on education and tourism
• Adaptation

3. LaoSafe / Skills Development
• Programme to raise hygiene standards in the tourism sector
• Restaurants, hotels, tour guides, airlines and drivers
• Training / assessment / certification
• Raise consumer confidence and develop relevant skills
• Joint initiative: government and private sector
o Ministry of Health
o Ministry of Information, Culture, Tourism
o Ministry of Education
o Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry
• Cornerstone in the reopening of the country (January 2023)

4. Digital Learning
• Cooperation with other partners
• Contextualized interventions to local needs
• Provision of basic infrastructure and skills (wifi, media studio, conference equipment,
ipads)
• In-service teacher training from abroad to in-country / in-person to online: adaptability

5. Adaptability & Flexibility
• Focus on upskilling and long-term technical vocational education
• Flexibility around timeframe, allowances / scholarships, delivery of programmes (online)
• Resources on basic digital infrastructure (in addition to teacher training)
• New interventions: i.e. Domestic Tourism Marketing (employment)

6. Key messages / remarks
• Adaptability and adjusting to new circumstances is key to ensure relevance of policies
and interventions.
• Digital interventions need to be matched to the needs and reality of the local context
• Collaboration and interconnectedness present both challenges and opportunities in
rapidly changing environments.
Thank you
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