Makkah governor lays stone for Saudi-German Institute

Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal laid the cornerstone of the Saudi-German Institute for Technology at a special ceremony held at Jeddah Hilton on Tuesday. The ceremony was attended by Ali Al-Ghafis, governor of Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC), which will build the institute within its plans to support the development process in Saudi Arabia through training programs designed to provide an opportunity for Saudi youth to enroll in vocational and technical training centers and institutes in order to improve their skills and capabilities to prepare them to work in national organizations and companies. The institute will be located at Jeddah-Makkah Expressway on a 74,000 square meter area. It is expected to cost SR150 million and can accommodate 800 trainees. Al-Ghafis said the event comes with Prince Khaled's keen interest in training Saudi youth and following up on all matters related to their employment to ensure the success of youth development strategy in Makkah province. Al-Ghafis further stated that the government takes great interest in the training sector as being a key element to create a well-trained national workforce, and in the name of the Saudi youth, he expressed their gratitude and appreciations to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Crown Prince Naif for their support. He stressed that one of the main challenges of jobs nationalization in the private sector is the gap between education and training programs, as well as the need to cope with the rapid requirements of the training sector. Al-Ghafis said the TVTC has built a strong bond with the private sector to take advantage of any employment opportunities and worked hard to develop its training plans and programs in full partnership with the labor market. "We have also coordinated with the private sector and its partners from the industrialized countries to build a strategic partnership with the Human Resources Development Fund for the establishment and operation of training modules to ensure the harmonization of education output and market demand in specialized areas," he said. Khalid Al-Juffali, the executive partner of E.A. Juffali and Bros. Co., explained that the establishment of the Saudi-German Institute for Technology in Jeddah comes as a result of the mutual cooperation between the TVTC and his company. Al-Juffali expressed his appreciation to King Abdullah and Prince Khaled for their constant support to the efforts that contribute to the development and evolution of Saudi youth, which eventually led to the laying of the cornerstone of the institute. He said the institute is one of the important projects that will have a major role in supporting the national economy through providing highly qualified manpower. The institute will be run by E.A. Juffali and Bros. Co. as a strategic partner of the TVTC.