Cambodia’s Ministry of Tourism and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) have discussed opportunities for tourism cooperation through the Skills Development Programme (SDP) implemented by Swisscontact and the Decent Employment for Youths (DEY) programme.
The discussion was made in a meeting here yesterday between H.E. Sok Soken, Cambodian Minister of Tourism (MoT) and Mr. Markus Buerli, Director of SDC in Cambodia.
According to MoT’s press release, DEY programme has been implemented by the International Labour organisation (ILO), which aims to promote tourism vocational skills, enhance tourism services in accordance with National and ASEAN Standards, and contribute to the Royal Government of the 7th Legislature of the National Assembly to provide vocational and education training to 1.5 million disadvantaged youths in Cambodia.
On the occasion, H.E. Minister warmly welcomed Mr. Markus Buerli and presented the joint strategic initiative of the MoT, known as “BUILD+3Ds”, with the vision to turn Cambodia into a vibrant, competitive, sustainable and environmental-friendly tourism destination. To accomplish this vision, human resources development is a top priority, in which SDC has recently reaffirmed its support.
The SDC director congratulated H.E. Sok Soken on his appointment as the Minister of Tourism for the 7th mandate, and reiterated strong support of the Swiss government under the Swiss Regional Cooperation Programme 2022-2025, which focuses on Government and Citizen participation, Inclusive Economic Development (especially in TVET), Climate Change and Natural Resources Management.
In this regard, H.E. Minister and Mr. Markus Buerli further discussed the promotion of tourism vocational training through the implementation of the Skills Development Programe Phase II 2024-2028, the development of national tourism qualifications, the establishment of an electronic recognition of prior learning assessment platform (E-RPL), and support for destination management.
Moreover, H.E. Minister also expressed his appreciation for SDC’s support in providing Hospitality Kampuchea (HoKa) training programme to more than 4,000 disadvantaged youths in the ten target provinces, as well as the expansion of HoKa training programmes to Koh Kong and Kampong Chhnang provinces from 2024 onward.
Finally, both sides expressed their commitment to further strengthen and expand tourism cooperation through vocational training programmes, and to promote destination management for an attractive and competitive tourism destination.
