His Excellency Dr. Ahmed Al-Zahrani, Undersecretary of the Ministry for Skills and Training, chaired the Kingdom's delegation at the second High-Level Regional Meeting on Youth Skills Education and their Transition to Decent Work, held from June 26-27, 2024, in Tunisia. The delegation included His Excellency the Assistant Undersecretary for Skills and Training, Mr. Hatem Al-Ballaa, and representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Economy and Planning, Salam Project for Civilizational Communication, Quality of Life Program, and Misk Foundation. This second edition of the meeting focused on addressing the challenges affecting youth.
During the thematic discussion session on digitization and the artificial intelligence economy, Dr. Al-Zahrani delivered several interventions. He highlighted the key initiatives and programs launched by the Kingdom to address changes in digitization and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, which are expected to impact the labor market and the skills system. Dr. Al-Zahrani also explained the Kingdom's approach to addressing skills demand and the integration of artificial intelligence into the skills agenda.
The first regional meeting was held in Amman, Jordan, where regional offices of the International Labor Organization, United Nations Development Program, United Nations Population Fund, UNESCO, and UNICEF proposed organizing the second regional meeting to tackle obstacles affecting youth transitioning from education to employment. This meeting particularly focused on digital and green skills and jobs, with a special emphasis on the challenges faced by girls and youth.