Signing Ceremony on Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Tourism and Swisscontact for the Skills Development Programme Phase 2 (2020-2024)

10.08.2020
In the second phase (2020-2024) of the Skills Development Programme (SDP), more disadvantaged young men and women and low-skilled workers will have the opportunity to access good quality Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in the five provinces Kratie, Stung Treng, Preah Vihear, Ratanak Kiri and Mondul Kiri. SDP is a project funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and is implemented by Swisscontact and INBAS in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) and the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (MoLVT).

A ceremony for the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) and Swisscontact for the implementation of the Skills Development Programme (SDP) Phase 2 (2020-2024) was held on 05 August 2020 at the Ministry of Tourism under the presidency of H.E. Dr. Thong Khon, Minister of Tourism with the presence of Ms. Nadia Ottiger, Deputy Director of Cooperation representing the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The purpose of this MoU is to build up the collaboration within the Cambodian hospitality actors both national level and sub-national level to closely work together to improve the quality of hospitality training that accessible by disadvantaged young women and men in the five target provinces.

As the hospitality industry in Cambodia continues to expand, the supply of experienced and skilful staff is inadequate to meet the growing demand. SDP successfully introduced an in-house training model called “Hospitality Kampuchea” (HoKa) in Phase 1. It is currently the only hospitality training programme that is aligned with the Cambodian Qualification Framework (CQF) and provides competencies to workers who are not yet able to attain a level 1 certification of the ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework (AQRF). HoKa is recognized by the National Committee of Tourism Professionals (NCTP) of the MoT. 

Hospitality Kampuchea is based on a demand-led and industry-based training model. The owners and managers, and the supervisory staff of hotels, guesthouses, resorts, restaurants and cafes needing to upgrade their in-house training processes will support the design of curricula and participate in capacity building facilitated by SDP.

In SDP Phase 2, Hospitality Kampuchea will continue to be one of the four main Intervention Areas that will be implemented in Kratie, Stung Treng, and Preah Vihear, and expanded to Mondul Kiri and Ratanak Kiri. In total, around 12,000 disadvantaged women and men, low-skilled workers and more than 900 trainers, staff and management of schools and companies will benefit from the four-year SDP. It is estimated that 1,740 low-skilled workers will benefit from the training programme and 170 hospitality business owners/managers, Provincial Department of Tourism (PDoT) trainers, and industry trainers/assessors will be included in the capacity building activities. HoKa Steering Committee will be formed and chaired by the MoT with the participation of the respective Provincial Departments of Tourism (PDoT) of SDP’s target provinces, hotel association and private sector to define objectives and review the implementation progress. It is instrumental for HoKa to be anchored in the national TVET system.