Sri Lanka to set up Ocean University with South Korean funding of US$ 50 million
Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Skills Development and Vocational Training states that South Korea is to provide funds amounting to US$ 50 million to Sri Lanka to set up its first fully fledged Ocean University in the near future.
Also, nine new hi-tech training facilities are to be set up across the country, modelled on the lines of the ground-breaking and ultra-modern South Korean backed KTEC Training Centre unveiled in Orugodawatte on 21 August.
These projects will be carried out by Sri Lanka’s state run job skilling apparatus, the Technical, Vocational Education Training (TVET) sector, for which this will be the largest project funding in its history.
“Today I met Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and we discussed how to create more modern TVET training centres in Sri Lanka. We decided to set up nine more new centres similar to recently launched Korea-Sri Lanka National Vocational Training Institute in Orgodawatte with South Koren funding. We thank the people of South Korea for this valuable support,” Sri Lanka’s Minister of Industry, Commerce, Resettlement of Protracted Displaced Persons, Cooperative Development, Skills Development and Vocational Training, Rishad Bathiudeen has said in Gampaha.
Speaking about the Ocean University the Minister has said the current ocean university is not a fully fledged one.
“We are also planning to set up a fully-fledged Ocean University at a cost of US$ 50 Mn. We will be able start work on it in the coming weeks. The Ocean University we have at present is not a fully fledged institution,” Bathiudeen has said, adding, “A Sri Lankan industry study last year showed that 400,000 new jobs will be available in Sri Lanka in the next three years in hotel, tourism and industry sectors. According to a study by the University of Colombo 58% of unfilled vacancies in Sri Lanka are in apparel sector 20% in food industry and 33% in other manufacturing sectors. Therefore the Skills Development and vocational training institutions under my Ministry we are working to address this situation.”
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s higher education sector is an emerging business/investment opportunity in the island for foreign businesses/investors. There are many foreign universities that have opened pathway colleges in Sri Lanka due to the increasing demand in the country as well as in the South Asian region. Many students in the region are currently receiving tertiary education in Sri Lanka. Therefore foreign businesses engaged in the education/higher education sectors could explore business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s higher education sector.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/01092019/Z_4 |