Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Monday said transformation is essential for the youth of Odisha, as the state stands at the crossroads of economic evolution. He made these remarks while inaugurating a two-day ‘NUA Odisha Global Summit on Growth and Employment’ in the state capital.
Patnaik highlighted the importance of industry leaders and key stakeholders coming together to shape the destiny of the workforce and propel Odisha towards unprecedented prosperity. “Transformation for us is not a choice, it’s an essentiality. Our youth must be future-ready. As we stand at the crossroads of economic evolution, we must come together – industry leaders, and other key stakeholders – to deliberate on strategies that will shape the destiny of our workforce and propel Odisha towards unprecedented prosperity,” the Chief Minister said.
The NUA Odisha scheme aims to empower youth with continuous skilling, re-skilling, and upskilling opportunities across all 30 districts, prioritising aspirational, tribal, and remote areas. The summit, attended by industry representatives and stakeholders, focused on understanding future growth sectors and necessary skill training to make Odisha’s youth future-ready for the global job market.
In the age of rapidly changing technology, Patnaik stressed the need to swiftly adapt to new dimensions of the socio-economic structure. He expressed hope that the summit would lay the foundation for identifying potential growth sectors, innovative job creation opportunities, and developing skilled manpower for upcoming industries. Minister for Skill Development and Technical Education Priti Ranjan Ghadai highlighted that the summit would help Odisha’s youngsters acquire appropriate skills to stay ahead of others. Nabin Odisha chairman Kartik Pandian praised the Chief Minister for transforming the state and making it a global model in cyclone management. “The NUA Odisha Global Summit on Growth and Employment aims to create a platform for exchange of ideas, best practices, and innovations in the field of skill development and employment generation while accelerating the growth of the state. It will also provide an opportunity for networking and partnership among the stakeholders and the participants,” said DTET and CEO of Odisha Skill Development Authority Reghu G.
The summit is hosting over 500 delegates from across the country and abroad, including policymakers, CXOs (chief experience officers), entrepreneurs, HR heads and other top brass from various promising sectors like IT/ITeS, FMCG, logistics and supply chain, auto, apparel, services in power packed panel discussions, roundtables, iconic speaker sessions, interactive sessions and others.