Switzerland increases employment opportunities for local disadvantaged

The government of Switzerland has provided a budget of US$8.6 million to assist vocational training and employment support for disadvantaged people in Laos.
Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment, Dr Kikeo Chanthaboury and Regional Director for Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Mr Jean-Francois Cuenod signed an agreement on Friday to support vocational education and improve the employment chances of local disadvantaged people.

The Vocational Training and Employment Support Services Project (VTESS) is a continuation of long-term assistance from Switzerland to enable young Lao adults and people from marginalised groups to find their way into the labour market.
The VTESS project will be implemented from March 2020-2023 with a perspective of future phases.
At the signing ceremony, Dr Kikeo highlighted that SDC had been a long-standing development partner providing total funds to Laos of approximately 209 million Swiss francs since 2000.
“The signing ceremony today for the VTESS project, that is financed by SDC, demonstrates the close cooperation between the Lao Government and Swiss Government in tackling development issues,” Dr Kikeo added.
Mr Jean Francois Cuenod said Switzerland was committed to contributing to inclusive and equitable development and the realisation of the SDGs in Laos and the region.
“Through VTESS, we have an opportunity to support the Lao government’s ongoing efforts to improve the quality of skills provision and its relevance to employers and labour market needs,” he said.
“This can bring employment opportunities to early school leavers and other people most in need,” Mr Cuenod stressed.
The project will be implemented by the Department of Technical and Vocational Education and Training under the Ministry of Education and Sports in close collaboration with the Department of Skills Development and Employment, Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare.
Swisscontact will lead the project in consortium with the Swiss academic institution the University of Lucerne, School of Social Work.
VTESS will build upon previous Swiss-funded initiatives in vocational training and also introduce an innovative employment support services component to enable disadvantaged people to better choose their career path through a ‘coaching cycle’ approach.
The VTESS project will initially focus on five provinces, and it is anticipated that up to 3,000 people from disadvantaged backgrounds, in particular, those who have not completed lower secondary education, will access the improved training and employment support services facilitated by the project.

By Times Reporters
(Latest Update December 10, 2019)