As a regional catalyst, the APO builds the capacity of NPOs and other relevant stakeholders for improving productivity in its members. The APO Certification Body Development (CBD) Program aims to develop NPOs and their affiliated organizations to become APO-accredited CBs to operate productivity specialist certification schemes. One of the important aims of CBs is building up pools of qualified assessors who are familiar with certification and assessment methods.

The National Training and Productivity Centre, Fiji National University, and APO Secretariat organized a training course on Assessors for the Productivity Specialists Certification Program, 16–19 August. The course was attended by 42 participants and three observers from 12 APO members including five local participants from Fiji. The sessions were conducted by three resource persons from Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam.

This training course was designed to cater to the needs of APO-accredited CBs and develop qualified, competent assessors who will staff APO-accredited CBs, train participants in APO-PS 101: Requirements for Productivity Specialists certification scheme, and impart the methods, criteria, and competencies required to conduct assessment for certification. The course participants are expected to assess candidates who apply to APO CBs for qualification as APO-certified productivity specialists.