SMU Associate Professor of Economics Tan Kim Song led an SMU team studying the skills gap in the five largest ASEAN economies. “The supply of adequately trained workers must be able to meet the demand for them in the industries that are deemed to be growth drivers,” he said. “Without the right skill sets, it would be difficult for the workers in ASEAN countries, especially the young ones, to play a meaningful role in the restructuring and upgrading of these economies,” he added. The report suggests that designing the right policy and right incentives for stakeholders to narrow the skills gap will be a fundamental challenge for policymakers in ASEAN countries.