Cabinet Secretary to the Ministry of Public Service, Hon. Moses Kuria earlier today presided over the opening ceremony of the Globalization 2.0: A New Concept for Sharing Skills and Labour between the Global South and North Conference.

The conference which has been organized by the Friedrich Neumann Foundation for Freedom seeks to explore a win-win development cooperation paradigm driven by skills, talent, technology, and labour exchange between the Global North and South.

The Global North is faced with labour scarcity while the Global South is faced with an unemployment crisis.

In Africa, out of 1.4 billion people, only half a billion are above 35 years old. The continent boosts a large reservoir of resources in Africa including Kenya which is labour.

The harnessing of skills and talent in the Global South will indeed provide a bridge with the Global North.

“I am aware that discussions on bilateral agreements between Kenya and Germany, the Middle East, and South Korea to import labour from Kenya are ongoing,” stated Kuria at the opening ceremony.

Challenges with immigration policies should not be a hindrance on this agenda. The government must consider the greater economic benefit of immigration and forge partnerships from a pragmatic point of view.

Through the National Youth Service, Kenya is ready for business through the importation of skilled and unskilled manpower.

Hon. Kuria expressed the government’s commitment to pre-deployment training to ensure skills expectations are met.

Kenya is also open for business through Business Process Outsourcing. The level of education and language proficiency in the Global South region is unmatched.

The urgency of the labour export matter and action on the same is now more critical than ever.

Also at the opening ceremony was Prof. Karl Heinz Paque, Chairman of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation; Alexander Fierly, Deputy Ambassador, German Embassy, Nairobi; Jealous Chirove, International Labour Organization Country Director, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.