2019 Belt & Road and BRICS Skills Competition Begins: Young talent prepares for tomorrow's workforce

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Helping workers meet future demands is a main focus of the Xiamen Declaration from BRICS Leaders. CGTN's Guan Yang finds out how today's young people are preparing for tomorrow's workforce at a competition in Shandong province.

These contestants were given very limited time to assemble, program and fly a drone. After several rounds of fierce contests, fifty drone pilots finally meet at the showdown.

ANGKON JAHAN, BANGLADESHI CONTESTANT 2019 BELT&ROAD AND BRICKS SKILLS COMPETITION, WEIFANG, SHANDONG PROVINCE "Now I know about the drone, it works similar to aircraft: we need the motherboard, we need to have all the parts fixed together, and we have to do the correct programming. Then it can fly."

With experts predicting that many jobs will be obsolete due to the future technological revolution, drones and the demand for drone pilots have emerged as a key growth industry.

Also, this year's final has covered many areas which will be crucial for tomorrow's economy. Over twenty segments were organized, including 3D printing, VR design, and robotics. All with one goal in common: to connect today's talent with tomorrow's jobs.

NAURZBEKOVA ASSEM, KAZAKHSTAN CONTESTANT 2019 BELT&ROAD AND BRICKS SKILLS COMPETITION, WEIFANG, SHANDONG PROVINCE "Now, even organs can be printed by 3D printers, that's awesome. I hope that more people in my country can become interested in 3D printing studies."

CHARLES ZHONG, MOULDING COMPETITION SPONSOR 2019 BELT&ROAD AND BRICKS SKILLS COMPETITION, WEIFANG, SHANDONG PROVINCE "The experience which the participants have obtained through this event - to design and build the mould by themselves, can help them build the interests in working in this field."

The organizing committee is the BRICS business council. And, it is confident that digital, green and service economies in the future will transform the labor market. This will require a more skilled workforce, and these competitions can help raise the standards in skills excellence.

LIU HUI, VICE DIRECTOR OF ORGANIZING COMMITTEE 2019 BELT&ROAD AND BRICKS SKILLS COMPETITION "We are glad to see some South African participants from previous competitions have landed decent jobs after graduation. This is exactly why we've organized the competition to help them build a career path."

Some of the winning team will head to Kazan in Russia for this year's world skills competition in August. As for the other youngsters, many are inspired by new ideas from the event on building a better future career. GUAN YANG, CGTN.