An SMU team, led by School of Social Sciences Dean and Professor of Political Science James T H Tang, is working with companies, government bodies and other research institutions to understand the mismatch between the supply and demand for skills across five Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Singapore. Speaking at the Workforce Readiness in Asean symposium organised by JPMorgan and the Asia Society at the Fullerton Hotel last Friday, SMU Associate Professor of Economics (Practice) Tan Kim Song, a member of the team, noted that while a lot of studies have been done at a very macro level using aggregated data, it does not provide much information on what actionable government measures can be taken. Prof Tan said that his team wants to shed light on the role of government in facilitating training and education, adding that not enough coordination and standard-setting has been done in Asean countries, resulting in confusion about what is the right kind of training which in turn contributes to the skills gap.