HANOI, Vietnam — A delegation of U.S. Department of Labor officials and representatives from academic institutions and business participated in a conference sponsored in cooperation with Vietnam’s Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA). Douglas F. Small, deputy assistant secretary of labor for employment and training, headed the U.S. delegation and joined Ambassador Michael W. Marine in Vietnam for the conference on economic and workforce development.

“The United States is pleased to join with other countries in this important discussion,” said Small. “To remain competitive in the global economy, it is critical that both large and growing economies develop innovative strategies for education and training a prepared workforce. This conference provides the opportunity to exchange ideas and share economic and workforce development approaches.”

Entitled “Strategies for Economic Development: Keys to Success in the 21st Century,” the conference was held in cooperation with Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and in advance of a labor ministerial meeting in October.

The conference featured sessions exploring the fundamentals of building a public workforce system; strategies to create innovative public-private partnerships that address workforce challenges; and the role of public and private training providers in educating workers to meet the skills needs of employers.

Additionally, the conference included workshops on the role of entrepreneurship in economic growth strategies; the role of workforce and labor market information in helping workers understand high growth employment and career opportunities; and the importance of building a pipeline of youth prepared to begin their working years.

U.S. delegation members included Martin Bean, managing director for education, Microsoft; Dr. Gary Green, president, Forsyth Tech Community College; Rebecca Rust, director of labor market statistics, Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation; Scott Sheely, executive director, Lancaster County Workforce Investment Board; Karen Steinberg, executive vice president, Council for Adult and Experiential Learning; and Ron Stiver, commissioner, Indiana Department of Workforce Development. Delegation members from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration were Gregg Weltz, director of youth services; Amy Young of the Office of Policy Development and Research; and Dale Ziegler of the Office of Workforce Security.