The Global HR Forum 2008 which opened here on Saturday underscored the importance of education and the development of human capital in achieving economic advancement. Dr. Ayoub Kazim, executive director of Dubai Knowledge Village and Dubai International Academic City, said in his welcome address that “the initiative will aggressively explore current challenges faced by the HR industry on the formation of global education clusters. It will also help formulate human resources development strategies of global enterprises; vocational education; human resources development strategy in R&D, and new dimensions of cooperation between Korea and the Middle East.” “Our partnership with the government of (South) Korea will not only catalyze the sharing of knowledge and experience among human resource experts, but will also set the stage for exploring innovative solutions in education, enterprise and government, while strengthening bilateral ties between Korea and the Middle East countries,” he said. The forum was organized in cooperation with government of South Korea to foster partnership and share best practices. Hyung-sik Woo, South Korea's vice minister of Education, Science and Technology, said his country is committed toward education and development of human capital contributed significantly to its rapid economic growth. The event seeks to foster partnership and share best practices between Korea and the Middle East. Hosted by Dubai Knowledge Village (DKV), the two-day forum has brought together policy makers in education and training across the GCC region and Korea, representatives from education and HR institutions, experts and researchers, besides HR specialists and global leaders. The South Korean government has continued to launch key initiatives geared toward knowledge generation, while building the necessary infrastructure to facilitate the country's growth. Though geographically distant, South Korea and the Middle East are interrelated by a common objective to further human resource development for creating a talent pool that is demanded to run the fast growing economic sectors in both countries. Key speakers from the Middle East included Nuriya Al-Sabeeh, Kuwait minister for Education; Hind Al- Mualla, chief of Innovation, Knowledge and Human Development Authority, UAE, and Dr. Ali Akbar Salehi, assistant secretary general for Science and Technology, General Secretariat of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). Speakers from Korea included Sang-Min Shin, president, The Korea Economic Daily; Sang-Soo Ahn, mayor, Incheon Metropolitan City; Young-Ki Kim, president Handong Global University; Seung-Ho Choi, secretary-general, Middle-East Society; senior vice president of Global HR, LG Electronics; Unna Huh, former president, Information and Communications University; Chul Park, president, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies; Deck-Kyu Han, chairman, Korea Middle East Association, and Doo-Hee Lee, president, Asia-Pacific Association for International Education (APAIE). The government of Korea inaugurated the Global Human Resources Forum in 2006 in collaboration with The Korea Economic Daily, Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development, and the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training. __
