HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC IN THE 21ST CENTURY

This paper will in its introduction clarify the terminology used and the focus and the time frame adopted. In the second part it will describe the present economic situation and future prospects of developing countries of Asia and the Pacific. It will then in the third part deal with the global and regional trends affecting human resource development (HRD) in the region. Skills needed by enterprises will be looked at in part four. The HRD issues/challenges for employers and their organisations in Asia and the Pacific in the 21st century will be covered in the fifth part. The sixth part will discuss the HRD role of Asian and Pacific employers' organisations. The paper will then conclude with a reiteration of the importance of HRD to enterprises and countries. HRD in this paper covers the development of people through education and training in a national context as well as within enterprises. HRD in an integrated sense also encompasses health care, nutrition, population policies and employment (Muqtada & Hildeman 1993; Working Group on HRD Strategies, Commonwealth Secretariat 1993). Though important, these aspects of HRD will not be dealt with. Developing countries in Asia and the Pacific will be the focus. A country by country approach will not be adopted. Rather, despite the regional diversity in terms of natural resources, culture, political institutions and levels of economic development, common issues and challenges affecting several or more developing countries will be identified and discussed. The education and training issues and challenges will be dealt with from the perspective of employers and their organisations. Thus the pedagogical aspects of education and training which are of interest to educationists will be left out. In terms of time frame, the period to be covered will be the present into the 21st century. Given the difficulties of forecasting, it is likely that only the early part of the next century will be dealt with. Nevertheless, where possible the later part of the next century will be covered, especially in respect of trends affecting the Asia and the Pacific region.download