Siemens and GIZ celebrate Kick-off and soft opening of Egyptian German Technical Academy in Egypt

• Posted 3 years ago

EGT Academy:

• Academy is part of €22 million commitment to Egypt
• Supports the county’s industrialization and local job creation plans
• Ushers in a new phase of occupational training by building competencies for how products are designed, made, and serviced

- Siemens and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH – on behalf of Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) – today celebrated the soft opening of the Egyptian German Technical Academy (EGT Academy), a flagship facility that will foster local capacity building, provide hands-on training and drive the next-generation of industrial skillsets in Egypt. The 2,000-square-meter facility is located in the strategic New Suez Canal Development Zone in the Ain Sokhna area.

- The new Academy is part of a €22 million strategic alliance agreement, that was signed in October 2017, between Siemens and BMZ, to support occupational training in Egypt, an agreement that is considered the first-of-its-kind and the largest globally to be signed between the two in the field of vocational education and training. Through the Academy, Siemens and GIZ are aiming at training more than 5,500 Egyptian youth, from across the country, by 2021.

- GIZ and Siemens marked the occasion with a program attended by Head of German Development Cooperation in Egypt, Uwe Gehlen; CEO of Siemens in Egypt, Emad Ghaly; Lars Fiechel of GIZ Egypt; Vice President of Siemens Gas and Power in Egypt, Ashraf Hamasa; and Siemens’ CFO in Egypt, Mostafa El-Bagoury alongside business community members and customers.

- Describing the expected impact of the EGT Academy, Uwe Gehlen commented: “Egypt’s youth is looking for perspectives and sustainable development. To achieve this, private investments and a qualified workforce are essential. EGT Academy will certainly play a critical role in supporting the capacity development of technical professionals, students, and technicians, helping to reduce the skills gap, improve job prospects to ultimately help build a solid national industrial system.”

- The occupational education that will be offered at the Academy is viewed as key to providing young talents with the skills and qualifications needed for the future of work through the latest advances in technology, quality, and safety, so they can help meet industry demands for Egypt. Courses will be constantly updated in a targeted fashion to prepare career-starters for the challenges of digitalization, for example, to make them as fit as possible for the future. Relevant digitalization topics, such as data analytics, software development, and data security, are covered in the Academy’s curricula.

- Emad Ghaly, added: “EGT Academy is definitely a landmark initiative that underlines our deep commitment to foster Egyptian technical talent in different industrial sectors. It also demonstrates the importance of collaboration between the public and private sectors and the co-creational of new models.  The Academy will not only serve as a hub for occupational training but also aim at driving productivity and operational efficiency of our customers by developing a new generation of local experts, thus helping to meet the goals of Egypt Vision 2030 for sustainable economic growth.”

- Study programs address the need to develop capabilities and skillsets in industrial mechanics; electrics and electronics; automation and control as well as building key competencies in the maintenance and repair of power plants and wind farms. Instead of solely classroom learning, many components of the training will be hands-on, simulating ‘real-life’ field conditions.

- EGT Academy has already started offering industrial and technical training courses for professionals as well as students. In addition, the Academy will work with local qualified education partners, such as the Ministry of Industry’s Productivity and Vocational Training Department in order to create a futuristic ecosystem of education that can meet the Egyptian labor market needs.