The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), a governmental aid organisation from South Korea for developing countries, held a groundbreaking ceremony for a technical and vocational training and education (TVET) institute in Yangon on May 19. The institute, intended to offer trainings to teachers and people in management level to promote their efficiencies, will also serve a training centre for students from government technology institutes. Minister for Education and Minister for Labour, Immigration and Population from Myanmar side attended the ground-breaking ceremony of the institute, which will be built with a budget of over $12 million.
The Myanmar government and the KOICA signed the agreement for the institute in September 2015 and the construction was initially scheduled to start in 2017, but the implementation delayed.
“The institute, which completion is set for the end of next year, will be the largest of its kind in Southeast Asia, and our government will strengthen cooperation with Myanmar through it,” said Lee Sang-hwa, the South Korean Ambassador to Myanmar at the ceremony. Myanmar is a key partner in South Korea’s New Southern Policy initiative, according to the ambassador. The TVET institute will comprise of seven buildings including dormitories for the faculty and students. The centre will greatly contribute to the enhancement of the quality of technical education, and fundamentally improve the vocational training system of Myanmar, said Minister for Education Dr Myo Thein Gyi. The KOICA was established in 1991 to provide Official Development Assistance (ODA) to developing countries so as to enhance the effectiveness of South Korea’s aid programmes overseas by implementing the government’s grant and technical cooperation arrangements.
