FICCI in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Govt. of India organized the Global Skill Summit on 20-21 August, 2009 at New Delhi . In continuation of last year's theme for the summit which focused on ‘ Skills and Knowledge ' being the driving forces of economic growth and social development, this year the summit focussed on the need to identify emerging skills that have a potential market in the next decade and thus the theme for this year was “Emerging Skill Challenges – Vision 2020”.

The summit focussed on the following areas:

• To understand the context and relevance of the National Skill Development Policy and National Skill Development Corporation.

• To concentrate on the training life cycle i.e. multifaceted aspects of training from the time of entry into the workforce, to re-entering the workforce, to re-training for a new job or position or upgrading skills for an existing job.

• To share experiences about initiatives and challenges faced by ITI s and ITC s in various states of India .

• To explore major opportunities for Skill demand in different sectors of economy.

• To create awareness among foreign and Indian vocational training providers of India 's potential to serve the global markets.

• To bring together global and Indian businesses to explore investment opportunities in vocational training and assessing the opportunities for bilateral ties for Skill development initiatives in the country.

The United Kingdom, through British Council & UKIERI was the ‘Country Partner' for the summit. Two key speakers Mr. Chris Humphries (Chief Executive-UK Commission for Employment & Skills) and Mr. Jack Matthews (Chief Executive Officer-Improve Limited) gave their perspective on the session : “Addressing Skill Challenges: Policy Perspective'. This session focussed on The UK's proven system of Sector Skills Councils and a globally recognised Vocational Qualifications Framework. The speakers also gave an insight on building ambitious and innovative businesses, a creative and highly skilled workforce and a strategic, agile and employment-led university and college system and move towards a demand driven employer led skills system – balancing the public and private sector agendas.