6 Dec 2012

Vanuatu Commissioner of Labour says skilled workers scheme timely

4:09 pm on 6 December 2012

The Vanuatu Commissioner of Labour says a new Melanesian Spearhead Group skilled workers scheme is timely.

Members of the MSG have signed an agreement to implement a Skills Movement Scheme, an initiative allowing about 400 workers from each country to be employed across the MSG countries.

Lionel Kaluat says the initiative has come at an important time as the global financial crisis has affected many small island states.

He says Vanuatu is short of a range of skilled workers.

"I'm looking more at skills such as engineering, scientists, all these very, very high skilled technical skills we need in terms of infrastructure to do engineering for building of airport, building of bridges, building of wharves. And these are the skills that the country really needs in order to enter into bigger scale developments."

Lionel Kaluat says there is also a need to put a policy in place to address the need for greater human resource development in Vanuatu.