The visit of GIZ Head of Division Asia, Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean to VCMI

On March 23rd, 2023, Mr Matthias Giegerich – the GIZ Head of Division Asia, Pacific, Latin American and the Carribbean visited the Vocational College of Machinery and Irrigation (VCMI). Accompanying Mr Matthias was Ms Elisabeth Gager –  Senior Departmental Advisor of Division Asia, Pacific, Latin American and the Carribbean GIZ, Dr Juergen Hartwig – the Programme Director, together with the officers of the Programme “Reform of TVET in Vietnam” and representatives from VCMI’s partner companies.

Having visited and experienced VCMI, Mr Giegerich was presented on the development history, achievements during the past few years of the college, and also the challenges that it has been facing during the process of developing VCMI to become a High-quality Institute for Green TVET by Mr Pham Duy Dong – the College Vice Rector. Mr Giegerich had the opportunity to visit the Green Building, recognized by the Vietnam Green Council with the achievement of the Golden Lotus in 2022. He was highly impressed with the application of workshops management and the pilot of the two new occupations which followed the concept of German standard oriented Cooperative Training, with the support from the Programme Reform of TVET in Vietnam: “Electronics for Energy and Building Technology” and “Mechanics for Sanitary, Heating and Climate Technology”. He highly appreciated the close cooperation of partner companies during the implementation process.

During the visit, Mr Nguyen Hoang Hiep – Chairman of Mien Dong Mechanical Refrigeration Electrical Corporation – showed his confidence in the quality of students from the German-standard oriented pilot classes: “The students have good technical and language skills, therefore, after they graduate, our company has a plan to employ and intend to further develop this high-quality human resource to take over manager, supervisor positions.”

In the closing speech, Mr Giegerich stated his commitment to continue to accompany and enhance the joint efforts to develop VCMI, especially in fields such as Business cooperation, Greening TVET, Inclusion and Digital transformation, aiming to develop VCMI becoming a High-quality Institute for Green TVET in Vietnam and in the region.

This activity was held within the component “Supporting High-Quality TVET Institutes” as part of the Vietnamese – German “Programme Reform of TVET in Viet Nam”. The programme is financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) together with the Vietnamese Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA).