The state will need more than 500,000 skilled workers by 2022 across various trades. The Himachal Pradesh Skills Development Project will help seize this opportunity by providing support in developing relevant and good quality TVET programs, thereby improving job prospects of nearly 65,000 youths from 2017 to 2022.

"After achieving impressive enrollment rates for higher education, the state of Himachal Pradesh faces "second-generation" challenge of preparing its youth for the challenging labor market," said Yokoyama. "The project will help in equipping the youth with market-relevant technical and vocational skills."

The project will establish a polytechnic for women, 6 city livelihood centers and 7 rural livelihood centers, and upgrade 11 employment exchanges into model career centers. These efforts will result in improved TVET awareness among youth, modernizing training equipment, implementing a training information system, forging partnerships with private sector, and creating better access to quality market-relevant TVET and livelihood development opportunities for youth in Himachal Pradesh.

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