Cairo – Last week, government officials from Egypt and the European Union celebrated the fourth year of cooperation and of the Technical, Vocational and Education Training programme (TVET). The project, which has a forecast duration of 6 years, aims to improve the qualification of workers, which should reflect positively on the expansion of trade relations between the two parties.
“The reform programme underway is among the most important to the modernization of the Egyptian economy,” says the Egyptian minister of Industry and Trade, Rachid Mohamed Rachid, according to a press release issued after the event.
“This effort is vital for the development of our industries and for the cooperation in trade between Egypt and the European Union. It has also proved to be of utmost importance to the improvement in the quality of marketing and sales operations, and exports of goods and services,” added Rachid. The programme was inaugurated in 2005 and should be concluded in 2011.
“The programme has paved the way for new investment and the broadening of perspectives for Egyptian product exports,” said the minister, who underscored that the development of vocational training is an important element of competitiveness. “No other factor will be capable of solving our economic issues. To be able to improve our future outlook for this sector, we must offer our children and youth the opportunity to develop their vocational and professional capacities,” he stated.
According to representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the programme is being carried out as a result of an actual demand that exists in Egypt. The advantages range from partnership between companies from both regions, access to modern technologies and the opening of new markets, guaranteed service quality, increased product value, cost reduction, access to public markets, investment risk sharing and stronger distribution.
The European Union ambassador to Cairo, Marc Franco, also praised the programme. “I have been in Egypt for only four months, but I was already able to sense the positive impact of the accomplishments of the joint work carried out by Egypt and the EU,” he asserted. Franco added that he still expects many positive results in the coming two years.
The programme has a budget of 66 million euros, provided by the Egyptian government and the EU. The general objective of the programme is to improve the competitiveness of Egyptian companies in the domestic and foreign markets, whereas its specific goals are to provide support to the development of human capital and institutional capacities in Egypt.
Even though the TVET has attained success in the entrepreneurial and professional spheres in Egypt, its large-scale impact is still questionable to many, given that the sum allocated to the effort is regarded as insufficient in the face of the strong demand of the professional training segment.
Despite the difficulties, however, the programme has provided vocational training to 13,642 Egyptian workers in the last four years. During the same period, the programme employed 200 business managers, and contributed to the establishment of 12 sectorial companies and eight local ones.
Three sectorial training councils and 100 training centres were also created during the period. The programme prepared 3,350 masters in training, tutors and coaches who operate in 29 ateliers and 28 technical secondary schools in Egypt.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
