site.btaSwitzerland to Finance Pilot Project on Vocational Education in Bulgaria

122 POLITICS - SWITZERLAND - PRESIDENT - UPDATED 2

Switzerland to
Finance Pilot Project
on Vocational Education in Bulgaria


Sofia, October 13 (BTA) - Switzerland will finance a 3.5 million
Swiss Francs' project on the improvement of vocational
education in Bulgaria within a Bulgarian-Swiss Cooperation
Programme of the value of 63 million euro. This transpired after
a meeting of President Rosen Plevneliev and his Swiss
counterpart Didier Burkhalter in Bern, the President's Press
Secretariat told the media. Plevneliev is on a two-day visit to
Switzerland.

It was also pointed out after the talks of the two presidents
that, at a subsequent stage, Switzerland will assist the overall
reform in the dual system of education and training in
Bulgaria. The meeting between the two heads of state was also
attended by Vice President and Minister of Justice and the
Interior Simonetta Sommaruga.

According to the shared view of Plevneliev and Burkhalter, the
vocational education will contribute to the reduction of youth
unemployment, introduce innovations and promote economic growth
in Bulgaria. The project will focus on cooperation with Swiss
companies, which already conduct successful business in
Bulgaria.

The big problem in Bulgaria is that the Bulgarian students
graduate at the age of 25 without a single day of experience in
the real economy, President Plevneliev said.

A Bulgarian vocational education strategy for the 2014-2020
period, prepared by the Ministry of Education and Science about
a month ago, envisages development
of the system of vocational education and training including
through an increase of the state subsidy for this purpose.

The strategy also envisages an increase of the start-up salaries
of teachers. Participation of the business and the sectoral
organizations in the setting of the curricula, establishment of
professional orientation centres in each municipality,
organizing of internships are but part of the measures mapped
out in the document.

It was pointed at the meeting between the two heads of state
that the trade and economic relations between Bulgaria and
Switzerland have gradually been overcoming the negative
consequences of the economic crisis and in 2012 and 2013 two-way
trade exceeded 350 million euro annually.

"It is particularly important for Bulgaria that this positive
tendency would lead to new partnerships and attracting of
investments in Switzerland in spheres with high added value,
such as high technologies, electronics and mechanical
engineering," said Plevneliev.

At present, the Swiss investments total 1,300 million euro.
Plevneliev said that an increasingly higher number of Swiss
nationals visit Bulgaria and a considerable growth of Bulgarian
tourists in Switzerland is also reported. A number of forums are
about to be held with the support of the two countries'
institutions and they are expected to present the advantages of
Bulgaria and Switzerland in relation to the implementation of
different investment projects and the popularization of the two
countries as tourist destinations.

Bulgaria will work for ever more closer cooperation with
Switzerland to use this country's experience in energy
efficiency, the Bulgarian President said.

Plevneliev thanked his host for Switzerland's subsequent support
for Bulgaria accession to the Schengen Area. "We expect that,
after 2016, Switzerland will treat the Bulgarian citizens like
the other citizens of the EU," the President underscored. The
head of state also noted the good cooperation between the police
services of the two countries in countering money laundering
and fighting international drug trafficking and human
trafficking. A bilateral agreement in this field is also to be
signed.

The two presidents discussed the situation caused by the wave of
refugees as a result of the crisis in the Middle East and North
Africa. In their opinion, there should be solidarity and a
common approach to deal with the situation.

The sides also expressed their support for preserving the
territorial integrity of Ukraine and respect for its
sovereignty.

Plevneliev congratulated his Swiss counterpart on his countryТs
successful Chairmanship-in-Office of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe, as well as on President
BurkhalterТs personal efforts in seeking a sustainable solution
to the Ukraine crisis.

Earlier in the day President Plevneliev visited the Crafts and
Industry Vocational School in Bern. The Bern school is the
largest of its kind in Switzerland. It provides vocational
training and periodic training to 7,000 school children in over
60 professions. It employs 600 teachers and other qualified
staff.

President Plevneliev was welcomed by the School Headmaster,
Sonya Marty. He told his hosts that the strategy, presented by
the Ministry, contains priorities and mechanisms for the
development of dual education. "The measures, contained in the
document, enable the establishment of a real connection between
business and education and create conditions for overcoming
youth unemployment," the head of State commented.

In the recent years, Bulgaria has become a preferred destination
for the establishment of companies or for the opening of
outsourcing centres of leading companies in the high-tech field,
such as HP, SAP, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, R&M, President Plevneliev
said at a Business Forum later in the day. Participating in it
were around 70 representative of the Swiss business.

President Plevneliev pointed out the production of components in
the automobile industry as a potential sphere of partnership
with Swiss companies. The production in this sector in Bulgaria
is of the value of 1,500 million euro annually and, today, there
are components, produced by Bulgarian companies in 8 of every
10 automobiles, he recalled.

In the 1996-2013 period, Swiss investments in Bulgaria equalled
some 1,300 million euro but, according to the head of State,
there are preconditions for much higher levels.

Later in the day Plevneliev will meet members of the Bulgarian
community in Switzerland./VI//ТК/