Daily Times

A toolkits handover ceremony was organized here to provide electrician toolkits to more than 60 returning migrants and local people of Pakistan.

TVET Sector Support Programme (TVET SSP) is facilitating the reintegration of returnees under its component, ‘Reintegration of Returnees in Pakistan’, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

While addressing the beneficiaries, Olaf Handloegten, Head of TVET Sector Support Programme and Cluster Coordinator Sustainable Economic Development, Training and Employment (CASEDTE) GIZ Pakistan, said, “The German Development Cooperation has always considered skills development in Pakistan to be essential and the impact it can create on the social and economic development of this country is potentially immense.

He said that a steady economy depended on the economic stability of its workers, specifically in the informal sector and added that supporting small businesses and self-employment through the provision of in-kind support was definitely a step in the right direction.

Olaf said, “We are hopeful that our intervention areas related to Career & Entrepreneurship Advisory Services, and Employment Promotion will continue to be fruitful for the beneficiaries in Pakistan.”

TVET Sector Support Programme is being implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in partnership with the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC), and in close collaboration with the provincial Technical Education and Vocational Training Authorities (TEVTAs) and several not-for-profit, public, and private sector organisations.

The beneficiaries were trained in a full-day workshop on “Career & Entrepreneurship Advisory” prior to the in-kind support handover ceremony.

Beneficiaries from Punjab and KP, who participated in the workshop, will now be able to start their own businesses upon their return to their hometowns.

Muhammad Nazir Khan, a returnee from Oman, while collecting his electrician toolkit at the event said, “Whenever people like us come back to Pakistan, we struggle – there aren’t too many opportunities or support services available for returning migrants”.