The ASEAN Future Workforce Council (AFWC) was formed in June 2019 as a catalyst to advance business and industry cooperation in TVET in ASEAN. The AFWC’s vision is that future skills development in the ASEAN region is business and industry driven. The history of the AFWC dates back to 2018, when the ASEAN Secretariat with support from the German government’s Regional Cooperation Programme for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in ASEAN (RECOTVET) initiated a regional learning process among ASEAN member states (AMS) with the objective is to identify challenges and solutions to strengthening business and industry cooperation in TVET.


Recognizing the need to move ‘from potential to realization’, the ASEAN Secretariat with support from RECOTVET launched a regional working group of TVET champions from business and industry at the 7th Regional Policy Dialogue on TVET, which took place in June 2018 at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia. 20 representatives from chambers, associations and companies from all ten AMS were selected as members. It was the first time that a regional working group on TVET was composed only of business and industry representatives. Over the course of 5 workshops between June 2018 and March 2019 the group discussed how to make TVET in the ASEAN region fit for the future. The final product of the group is the Future ASEAN Agenda for TVET, a document that outlines specific, action-oriented recommendations for strengthening the contributions of business and industry in TVET.

After the AFWC’s launch at the 9th Regional Policy Dialogue on TVET in June 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand, the AFWC was officially recognized as a Joint Business Council by the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN BAC).Subsequently in September 2020, AFWC was incorporated as the member of ASEAN TVET Council (ATC) .The ATC was launched by the ASEAN Labour Ministers Meeting (ALMM), ASEAN Education Ministers Meeting (ASED) and ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting (AEM). The cross-sectoral body comprised of representatives from Ministries of Education, Ministries of Labour, Ministries of Commerce/ Industry/ Trade, and other relevant ministries of all ASEAN member states as well as the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Secretariat, the ASEAN Confederation of Employers, the ASEAN Trade Union Council and related divisions of the ASEAN Secretariat.