The Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Dr. Sahar Nasr, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Dr. Gerd Müller and Chief Human Resources Officer and Member of the Managing Board of Siemens Ms. Janina Jugel laid the foundation stone for establishing a vocational training centre in Ain Sokhna based on the agreement signed between Egypt and Germany to support a vocational and technical training in Egypt. This was attended by the German Ambassador to Egypt Mr. Julius Loy and CEO of Siemens Egypt Mr. Emad Ghaly.
The Minister indicated that the centre would be established by virtue of an economic cooperation agreement signed between Egypt and Germany for developing the skills of youth, noting that cooperation was underway between MIIC and its German counterpart to contribute to providing Egyptian youth with further job opportunities and to building trained local personnel. She added that GIZ would cooperate with Siemens with the aim to establish and operate a joint vocational training centre in Ain Sokhna in Egypt, thereby providing over 5500 Egyptian people with training during the four upcoming years in advanced technical specializations, including industrial mechanics, electrical and electronic fields, control and automation, besides building basic skills for trainees in the fields of maintenance, services of power plants and wind farms. She added that agreement provided for the development of one of the higher technical education institutes at Al-Amiria District, Cairo.
Moreover, the Minister emphasized that the agreement was considered an investment in youth which are the future of Egypt, noting that 600 young trainees would get job opportunities and that the government worked on providing jobs through the private sector’s investments.
The Minister expressed her appreciation of Siemen’s role in supporting the Egyptian economy, expressing her aspirations to repeat such experience between Egypt and Germany in light of targeting further German investments under foreign direct investments (FDIs). She pointed out that MIIC targeted FDIs worth approximately USD 10 billion during the fiscal year 2017-2018. “Egyptian youth are looking forward to sustainable development. To this end, the private sector’s investments and the availability of labour force are crucial. Thus, we seek, through cooperation with Siemens, to ensure that the vocational training centre to be established would consider the needs of Egyptians and the labour market in terms of specializations and training. Within this framework, we look forward to providing the necessary basis for attracting further future investments and creating more job opportunities,” stated Dr. Müller. “Siemens maintains its commitment to investing in the Egyptian market and to supporting industrial growth in the state.
Thus, we are committed to developing the skills of local labour and to investing in the skills development of future generation, placing them in a better position that would allow for supporting sustainable development in the country, Ms. Jugel.
Siemens is proud of the mega projects currently established in Egypt in the energy sector and we believe that the agreement represents a new achievement in Egypt, given that the availability of trained labour force according the best practices is considered a main factor for the future of Egypt which has a 115-year old history,” indicated Mr. Ghaly. “The agreement aims to provide youth with the skills necessary for success in the manufacturing sector and to prepare youth for the labour market,” he added.