The SCO Secretariat delegation headed by SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov took part in a roundtable discussion called, Development of SCO Vocational Education, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, in Kunming on 5 December 2020. The event was held by the People's Government of the city of Kunming. The discussion was attended by city officials, representatives from SCO diplomatic missions, Chinese research institutes and youth organisations.
Opening the discussion, Vladimir Norov emphasised that Kunming provides high quality and accessible professional education in many specialties, thereby helping Yunnan Province to be one of the flagship areas for China's technological development.
Mr Norov noted that cooperation in vocational training, science and technology is one of the main areas of SCO activity: "The SCO member countries cooperate in professional education by exchanging experience and best practices and by facilitating direct contact between education institutions. They are currently considering creating an SCO association of secondary vocational education," Mr Norov said.
He told the audience about the agreements reached at the recent meetings of the Heads of State and Heads of Government Councils that are aimed at further developing cooperation in education and science and about the SCO events on youth affairs, startups, innovation and business.
Mr Norov expressed confidence that it would be very useful for the participants in the discussion and representatives of the SCO member countries to learn about the experience of organising and developing vocational education clusters and innovative high-tech parks in Yunnan Province. This would lay a foundation for implementing the initiative by the province and the city of Kunming on creating a platform for the SCO countries to exchange experience in this area of education for the recovery and further economic advance of our countries.
The SCO Secretary-General noted that one of the main tasks of the roundtable discussion was to create the groundwork for SCO cooperation in developing vocational education.
The SCHOLAR youth platform at the SCO Secretariat is making a tangible contribution to involving the youth in SCO activities, and helping them reach proper professional skills in conformity with the requirements of last-minute IT and the digital economy. This platform offers the SCO Model interactive game and online and offline AGORA academic and research conferences. The recently created online SCHOLAR Academy also deserves attention in this respect.
Summing up, Mr Norov emphasised that the SCO countries could continue doing much for building a society in the SCO space where young people will be able to reveal their potential and which will appreciate their contribution to the progress of their countries.
The discussion included sessions on the following issues: a chance and a challenge for vocational education in the information century; experience in cooperation between universities and companies — skills training in innovative industries; and the practice of production, instruction and study of 5G and Big Data.
During the event, representatives from the diplomatic missions of the SCO countries told the audience about the status of vocational education and youth business and the measures taken by their governments to promote them.
During the roundtable discussion government officials of Kunming shared their ideas on upgrading education methods and creating favourable conditions for youth entrepreneurship. They suggested ideas on deepening SCO cooperation in the above areas. Thus, Vice Mayor of Kunming Sung Chung noted the city's intention to create a data base for innovations and business in the field of professional education for SCO youth.
During the event the delegations visited two education centres that train personnel for aviation, machine-building, services, arts and agriculture.