President of Germany visits Engineering College from central Moldova town

Chisinau, 30 September /MOLDPRES/ - President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier today visited the Engineering College from Straseni, inaugurated three years ago with the support of German companies from Moldova and with the direct backing, in form of financing and donation of equipment, on behalf of the Berlin government. The official was accompanied by a delegation made up of business environment’s representatives.   
“Three years ago, we started to educated young people in a dual education system based on the German experience, through the newly founded Engineering College. Presently, it is one of the best endowed education institutions from Moldova, which provides students a wide range of knowledge and abilities. The dual education system is important for us, as through it, there is a synchronization between the demand on the labour market and the supply form the education system,’’ the chief manager of the Balti Free economic Zone (FEZ), director of the Engineering College Marin Ciobanu said.         
Marin Ciobanu thanked the president of Germany for the support on behalf of his country, noting that ‘’one of the principal obstacles to the attraction of new foreign investments in Moldova is the lack of qualified staff, able to work with modern equipment and to meet the highest standards of technological production.’’
The German firms represent investments worth 160 million euros on the territory of the area, as well as over 8,000 jobs created. Thus, they are extremely interested in the sustainable development of their enterprises, which also implies the education of qualified staff in the engineering sector.  
In the three years after the opening the College from Straseni, the investments in this institution have exceeded two million euros. It is divided approximately equal between the financing from the Moldovan budget and the assistance on behalf of our German colleagues. This year, we had the second series of graduates apprentices; each year, we educate 25 medium-level engineers for the national economy. These are, mainly, specialists for the companies which cooperate with the College in the dual education process; the apprentices have probations and practical training with these companies. Presently, we have over 20 partners, most of which are German companies. It is important to highlight the fact that that our graduates get the needed knowledge and skills to work with the most modern equipment,’’ Ciobanu also said.    
The visit ended with the presentation of laboratories at the institution: 3D printing lab, pneumatic and hydraulic laboratories, robotics laboratory, etc.
President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier was on a two day official visit to Chisinau on 29-30 September.  
photo: FEZ Balti