NEWS

Switzerland Will Finance a Pilot Project for Introducing Vocational Education in Bulgaria

Switzerland will finance a project worth CHF 3.5 million francs aimed at improving professional education in Bulgaria, which is part of the Bulgarian-Swiss cooperation program worth 63 million euros. This became clear after the meeting held between President Rosen Plevneliev and the Swiss Head of State Didier Burkhalter in Bern. The Bulgarian Head of State is on a two-day visit to Switzerland. At a later stage Switzerland will help Bulgaria in conducting a comprehensive reform of the dual system of education and training in the country, it was pointed out after the talks between the two presidents ended. Simonetta Sommaruga, Head of the Federal Department of Justice and Police, also attended the meeting.

The position shared by Rosen Plevneliev and Didier Burkhalter was that vocational education will contribute to the reduction of youth unemployment, to implementing innovations and will encourage economic growth in Bulgaria. Within the project stress will be laid on the cooperation with Swiss companies which are already developing successful activity in Bulgaria. “This project will give the young people the opportunity to have personal prospects and everyone will be able to live a worthy life, to have a profession which they will love and which will guarantee incomes,” President Rosen Plevneliev said. Thus the Swiss experience in vocational education will be transferred to Bulgaria. Thanks to the functioning system, there is practically no youth unemployment in Switzerland, and the unemployment rate is three percent, President Rosen Plevneliev said. “We have the enormous problem that the Bulgarian students graduate at the age of 25 without having had even a single-day length of service in the real economic sector. We see the exact opposite trend here in Switzerland.”

The dual system of vocational education and training is of key importance for the Swiss business circles, Didier Burkhalter said. To make it possible for the youths to receive vocational training in private and state companies, it is expected that with the help of Swiss experts better coordination between the state institutions, vocational schools, business circles, the employer organizations and the social partners will be ensured.

It was pointed out at the meeting between the Heads of State that the economic relations between Bulgaria and Switzerland are overcoming the negative consequences from the economic crisis and in 2012 and 2013 the bilateral trade exceeded 350 million euros a year. “For Bulgaria it is extremely important that this positive trend leads to establishing new partnerships and attracting more investments from Switzerland in spheres with a high added value such as high technologies, electronics and machine building,” President Plevneliev said. So far the total amount of Swiss investments is worth 1.3 billion euros. The Head of State pointed out that a growing number of citizens of Switzerland visit Bulgaria and a significant growth of Bulgarian tourists is also reported. With the help of institutions from the two countries a lot of business forums are yet to be held, at which the advantages of Bulgaria and Switzerland for implementing different investment projects and for popularizing the two countries as tourist destinations will be presented.

Bulgaria will work to ensure a closer cooperation with Switzerland and to implement the Swiss experience in the sphere of energy efficiency, the Bulgarian Head of State pointed out. Our country shows interest in the Swiss experience in the energy inspection of buildings, in issuing special energy instructions upon obtaining licenses for the construction of new buildings, in issuing energy passports of buildings and others.

Rosen Plevneliev thanked Didier Burkhalter for Switzerland’s consistent support for Bulgaria’s entry into the Schengen border-free area. “We expect that after 2016 Switzerland will treat the Bulgarian citizens as it does all other EU citizens,” the President emphasized. The Head of State also highlighted the  good cooperation between the police services in the two countries in combating money laundering, in fighting international drug trafficking and the illegal trafficking of people. A bilateral agreement is due to be signed in this sphere. The two presidents debated the situation provoked by the wave of refugees which in turn was caused by the crisis in the Middle East and North Africa. In Rosen Plevneliev’s and Didier Burkhalter’s opinion, ensuring solidarity and adopting a common approach to coping with the situation is extremely important.

A common support for preserving Ukraine’s territorial integrity and respecting its sovereignty was voiced at the meeting. President Plevneliev praised his Swiss counterpart for Switzerland’s successful presidency of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and for President Burkhalter’s personal efforts to find a lasting solution of the Ukrainian crisis.

Later today President Plevneliev will hold talks with representatives of the Swiss business circles. In Geneva the Head of State will also meet representatives of the Bulgarian community in Switzerland.