RDA Orana woos South Korean investors

Regional Development Australia (RDA) Orana chief executive officer Felicity Taylor-Edwards, said the visit by Professor Jae-Hoon Jung and Jamie Park followed a consular visit last year that signalled South Korea had its sights focused on Orana in what she described as a "mutually beneficial business relationship".

She said the project would help regional businesses address short-term skills shortages that could not presently be filled by the local workforce.

"In the meantime, we are also working on longer-term strategies to help upskill our region's own working population, including the Work Inspiration project," Ms Taylor-Edwards said.

"We will also be hosting employers and schools this week to help shape that particular project and inspire young students into the world of work.

"Strategies like these will lead to greater productivity of businesses and therefore increased development."

Ms Taylor-Edwards said extensive research conducted by RDA Orana last year identified several local businesses had experienced difficulty recruiting staff and reported skills shortages.

During their visit, the delegates would speak with interested employers and form partnerships with them to try to learn what they required in a trainee, Ms Taylor-Edwards said.

She said the Korean trainee project would involve partially-qualified students being placed into Orana workplaces for two years to continue their occupational training, with the students helping to fill skills gaps that employers had identified they were currently not able to fill locally.

"Employers have to show they have tried to recruit domestically but can't," Ms Taylor-Edwards said.

She said locally those skills gaps mainly occurred in vocational trades like mechanics, engineering, hospitality, driving and agricultural sectors.