Demographic shifts driven by population ageing and labour migration, compounded with the green and digital transformations, call for a fundamental rethinking of education and training systems to unlock people’s potential at every stage of life. Education systems must evolve to equip students with skills for the future, empower teachers for the age of artificial intelligence, and foster innovation. Lifelong learning, skills recognition and inter-generational knowledge sharing should be embraced to harness the talent of all generations. At the same time, expanding workforce participation by engaging people from underutilised groups can help alleviate skills shortages, boost employment, and strengthen societal resilience.
Since 2016, the OECD has organised biennial OECD Skills Summits together with host countries. OECD Skills Summits provide ministers and senior officials with an opportunity to learn from each other’s experience in designing and implementing skills policy reforms, as well as to discuss how to best elevate skills policy on the public policy agenda.
This two-day, in-person Summit, hosted by the Republic of Türkiye, will be conducted as a ministerial ‘retreat’, with formal interventions, speeches by world-renowned keynote speakers and bilateral meetings. Summit discussions will cover rethinking formal education, harnessing adults’ skills and tapping into hidden talent, to fully develop and use countries’ skills bases.
Discussions are subject to “Chatham House” rules, and designed to encourage candid and open exchanges, raise challenging questions, offer concrete policy examples, and share latest analysis of the OECD on skills.
Participation in the Summit is by invitation only. Requests for attendance cannot be accepted due to limited spaces available.
This 6th biennial Skills Summit in Türkiye will build on progress since previous OECD Skills Summits hosted by Norway in 2016, Portugal in 2018, Slovenia in 2020, Colombia in 2022 and Belgium in 2024. Find out more about the previous Summits here.
Türkiye is deeply honoured to host the OECD Skills Summit 2026 in Istanbul, a city where continents, cultures, and civilisations converge. With its unique position as a bridge between East and West, Türkiye reflects the very essence of dialogue, cooperation and innovation that this Summit seeks to advance.
As one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, endowed with a dynamic and youthful population, Türkiye has placed skills development, education, and employment at the forefront of its national agenda. Türkiye’s policies are directed toward strengthening human capital, advancing adaptation to digital and green transformations, and promoting inclusive participation in the labour market.
The city of Istanbul, with its profound historical heritage and dynamic contemporary character, provides an inspiring venue for global dialogue. From its ancient landmarks to its state-of-the-art infrastructure, Istanbul embodies Türkiye’s vision of honouring tradition while confidently embracing the future.
Hosting the OECD Skills Summit is an opportunity for Türkiye to contribute actively to shaping global approaches to skills, to learn from international experiences, and to share its own best practices. Türkiye is honoured to host the OECD Skills Summit, which presents a distinguished opportunity to actively contribute to the formulation of global strategies on skills, to benefit from the wealth of international experience, and to share our best practices.
