Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept.28 / Trend, E.Ostapenko /
A milk-processing plant has been opened in Gori, Georgia under the EU-funded 'Early Recovery Efforts in Georgia' initiative. According to a press release from the EU Delegation to Georgia, the plant produces a variety of quality dairy products of up to 1,000 litres of milk a day, and, equipped with up-to-date technology, serves as a base for practical training for vocational education students from Gori University, European Neighbourhood (ENPI) website reports.
Financing is conducted within the initiative "Early Recovery Efforts in Georgia", which is a Joint initiative of the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as a response to the August 2008 war, which severely affected livelihoods in or close to the conflict areas. With €4.4 million in EU funding, it is designed to provide more income generation opportunities and to encourage economic recovery and development in the regions of Shida Kartli, Samegrelo and Mtskheta-Mtianeti.
"Establishing small production at the vocational education centres is a successful model that can be replicated by the other professional colleges," Minister of Education and Science of Georgia Dimitri Shashkin said after a tour around the plant.
According to the Head of UNDP in Georgia Jamie McGoldricka, progress has been achieved in vocational education across the country. As an example, the University of Gori, being the only educational institution in Georgia that provides theoretical as well as practical training in milk processing industry, is now offering educational courses in 12 and retraining in 16 professions, tailored to the needs of the local labour market.
"Provision of tangible results and specific solutions has been at the core of this project from its beginning. We are pleased that it has become possible to create new jobs and offer many people access to practical training. We consider this an important area of the European Union assistance to Georgia in post-war recovery," the Head of the European Union Delegation to Georgia Ambassador Per Eklund said during the site visit.