The Vietnam National Productivity Institute and APO Secretariat organized a training course for Assessors of the Green Productivity (GP) Specialists Certification Program, 11–14 July. The online course aimed to develop qualified experts capable of assessing APO-accredited certification bodies (CBs) and explain the methods, criteria, and competencies required to assess certification candidates. The APO Accreditation Program is a strategic initiative that involves the certification and recertification of CBs in its members to operate productivity specialist-related schemes. Accredited CBs play a crucial role in developing productivity specialists, enabling them to contribute to productivity improvement in their countries and other APO members.

The CB Development Program supports NPOs or affiliated organizations in becoming APO-accredited CBs to operate certification schemes. CBs must build pools of qualified assessors to ensure the quality of candidates seeking accreditation. The recent training course was designed to cover aspects of the APO-GPS 201:2019 Certification Scheme and Competency Standard for GP Specialists. It was led by three resource persons, one each from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Norway, who provided insights into levels of certification, prerequisites, competency requirements for GP specialists, and the roles and responsibilities of assessors. It also focused on assessment methods for GP domain expertise, GP specialists’ skills, employability skills, certification and recertification processes for GP specialists, and assessors’ code of conduct.

A total of 37 participants from 13 APO members attended the training course, including nine from Vietnam. The participants represented senior professional staff of NPOs and certified management consultants, professional auditors, and assessors to be engaged by CBs. GP is a key APO focus area, not only to raise productivity levels but also to promote sustainable economic growth among its members. While the GP 2.0 framework is under development, the Secretariat is actively promoting the GP Specialists Certification Scheme.