Dear ISTMA members,
WorldSkills International is a global non-profit organization that, for more than 75 years, has promoted the development and recognition of vocational education and training through, among other initiatives, the WorldSkills Competition – the world’s largest skills competition. Held every two years in different countries, the competition brings together young talents from around the world to
demonstrate the highest international standards of professional excellence.
Next month, the WorldSkills Competition 2026 will take place in Shanghai, China, followed by Aichi, Japan, in 2028. Today, the competition covers more than 65 different skills, bringing together approximately 1,400 competitors
from more than 70 countries and regions for four intensive days of competition.
Similar to the Olympic Games, the highest-performing competitors are recognized with gold, silver, and bronze medals, representing technical excellence, knowledge, precision, innovation, and dedication.
Beyond the competition itself, WorldSkills provides an extraordinary international platform for sharing knowledge and best practices in vocational education and training, connecting education systems, companies, industry associations, experts, and young professionals from around the world. Its mission also encourages new generations to recognize technical and vocational education as a path towards
professional excellence, innovation, and development – an essential element for both highly industrialized economies and developing countries.
The Toolmaking Challenge
Despite the strategic importance of the tooling, mould and die industry to global manufacturing supply chains,WorldSkills currently does not have a specific competition skill dedicated to Toolmaking within its official portfolio.
Until WorldSkills Kazan 2019 in Russia, our industry was represented through the Plastic Die Engineering skill. However, due to a reduction in the number of participating countries and the changes that followed the COVID-19
pandemic, the skill was subsequently placed on standby and has not returned to the regular competition programme. We believe that the time has come to work together to change this situation. T he global manufacturing industry depends on highly skilled toolmakers. Moulds, dies, special tools, fixtures, and
tooling solutions are essential to industries such as automotive, mobility, electronics, consumer goods, packaging, medical equipment, and many other manufacturing sectors. For this reason, ISTMA – International Special Tooling and Machining Association would like to mobilize its member associations and countries to assess international interest in bringing a Toolmaking skill back to the
WorldSkills Competition.
Our Goal: At Least 12 Countries.To demonstrate to WorldSkills International the relevance and international reach of this initiative, we believe it is strategically important to gather an initial expression of interest from at least 12 countries.
At this stage, we are not requesting a final commitment to participate. Our immediate objective is to demonstrate that there is a sufficiently representative international community interested in working together towards the return of
Toolmaking to the WorldSkills environment. Therefore, we formally invite the representatives of ISTMA member countries to respond to this letter, expressing:
- Recognition of the strategic importance of the Toolmaking profession to your country’s industry;
- Support for promoting and increasing the international visibility of this profession among young people;
- Your country’s interest in following and supporting the initiative to bring Toolmaking back to WorldSkills; and
- Whenever possible, a preliminary expression of interest in participating in a future international Toolmaking
competition within the WorldSkills framework.
As a supporting document, we are also providing the Trade Description for the skill, which outlines the competition structure, the professional knowledge and competencies involved, as well as the assessment processes and criteria.
This means that we are not starting from zero. We already have an established competition structure, accumulated international experience, and previously
developed and validated assessment mechanisms. The main challenge now is to rebuild the international interest, representation, and engagement required to bring Toolmaking back to the WorldSkills global stage. We believe that one of ISTMA’s greatest strengths is precisely its ability to connect associations, companies, industries, and professionals facing similar challenges in different parts of the world.
This is an opportunity to unite our countries around a common goal: to ensure that a profession so essential to global manufacturing once again has its place among the skills that inspire the next generation of technical talent. We sincerely count on the support and engagement of each ISTMA member country in this important international initiative. Additionally, to ensure that we can consolidate the expressions of interest from all participating countries and move forward with the next steps of this initiative, we kindly ask each ISTMA member country to submit its formal response no later than September 11, 2026. The responses received will be consolidated by ISTMA and will serve as an important basis for demonstrating to WorldSkills International the global relevance, industry support, and potential participation required to bring Toolmaking back to the WorldSkills Competition.
Should you require any additional information or clarification, ISTMA remains fully available to support you.
Yours sincerely,
Christian Dihlman
The President of ISTMA World
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