Foundation stone laying ceremony in Colombo by Mahinda Samarasinghe, Minister of Skills Development and Vocational Training, and Chang Won-sam

The foundation stone laying ceremonies for establishing two vocational training institutes in Sri Lanka (Vocational Training Centre in Colombo Central; and College of Technology in Gampaha) were held on 17th and 21st November respectively. These ceremonies were graced by the presence of the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Sri Lanka, Chang, Won-sam, Minister of Skills Development and Vocational Training, Mahinda Samarasinghe, Chief Resident Representative of Korea Eximbank, Sungsoo Jung and other dignitaries. 

As Sri Lanka aspires to become an upper middle-income country, it will need to bridge the gap between the industry skills demand and the labour supply. An important initiative that can help bridge this gap is to expand the physical infrastructure of the vocational training institutes and to improve the quality of TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) programmes and teachers’ capacities in Sri Lanka. The 1500-day economic development plan that will be implemented from 2017-2020 under the auspices of President Maithipala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil

Wickramasinghe also targets to generate one million job opportunities. Considering such national development priorities, the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank) is currently supporting the establishment of the aforementioned vocational training institutes in Sri Lanka.
The scope of this project includes constructing and developing the aforementioned institutes; providing them with necessary equipment and facilities; conducting capacity building for vocational training instructors and policy makers; and providing further technical assistance and consulting services by dispatching Korean experts to Sri Lanka. Through the successful completion of this project, it is anticipated to reduce the unemployment rate of the youth in Sri Lanka and to improve the satisfaction level of the industrial sectors who hire graduates from these institutes.

Stressing the importance of the TVET sector to the overall economic development of the country, Ambassador Chang, Won-sam assured that the Government of the Republic of Korea will continue to share Korea’s development experience and knowledge in the TVET sector through continued development programmes in Sri Lanka.