Minister Nikola Stoyanov met students from the first graduating class of the Austrian project for dual education in our country

Over 1,150 Bulgarian students are trained by working in Bulgarian enterprises under an Austrian project. Today the Minister of Economy and Industry Nikola Stoyanov and the Ambassador of Austria to our country H.E. Andrea Ikic-Böhm visited one of the enterprises included in the dual training program - Gebrüder Weiss. It is the oldest transport company in the world, which has been operating a logistics center in Bulgaria for 30 years.

"Bulgaria must give a serious boost to dual education at the national level. Therefore, it is very important to study the good practices and solve the existing problems", stressed Minister Stoyanov. According to him, the Austrian project "GODUAL" provides a very positive example. He also spoke to the 15 students who are learning through work at the enterprise. All shared that the knowledge they are accumulating is extremely useful and they have the ambition to realize it in the logistics sector. The executive director of "Gebrüder Weiss" EOOD Marieta Grigorova announced that their company not only actively participates in the project, but will also give the students the opportunity to start working after graduation, providing them with the opportunity to continue their higher education if they have such desire.

"There are many positive examples in Bulgaria and they should be studied and used, including in the development of a strategy with a clear horizon for the mass integration of dual education," said Nikola Stoyanov. He also commented that over the years, the Ministry of Economy and Industry has created an information database of enterprises and schools that participate in a dual form of education, but its scope has remained too limited. "The main priority is to create a working mechanism, because properly trained personnel will not only be effectively realized on the labor market, but this is also a prerequisite to keep more young people in Bulgaria," the Minister of Economy emphasized.

"Dual studies are very popular in Austria, as they enable students to acquire specialized knowledge and qualifications faster and practice-oriented in a real professional environment. This allows them to successfully enter the profession they have mastered after finishing school," said the Austrian ambassador. "This joint focus on the best possible training of specialists is in the interest of both parties. Today, we were once again convinced of the good relations between Austria and Bulgaria, which are also reflected in the economy. Technical qualification that meets the requirements of companies is one of the keys to success - both for employees and for companies. Austria and Bulgaria are close partners in terms of dual education as well," emphasized H.E. Andrea Ikic-Boehm.

"For nine years now, Austrian and international companies have been investing funds, time and energy as part of our dual training project in Bulgaria. The final result is the most important - an investment in education is an investment in the future," said Philip Kupfer, the commercial adviser at the Embassy of Austria in our country.

"The visit of Minister Stoyanov to a leading and stable Austrian company operating in Bulgaria - the logistics giant Gebrüder Weiss - is an important signal for the Austrian economy here and our dual training project. Every signal, every support helps in our efforts to create the necessary qualification for the personnel for the country and the companies", the Austrian embassy in our country also indicated.

"Gebrüder Weiss" EOOD is part of the concern "Gebrüder Weiss Holding" AG and is the oldest transport company in the world. In our country, the company is also one of the founders of the Austrian project "Dual training in Bulgaria". The "GODUAL" project is part of the "GO-INTERNATIONAL" international initiative of the Federal Ministry of Labor and Economics and the Austrian Chamber of Commerce. Its goal is to ensure the necessary qualified personnel for business through higher quality professional education in Bulgaria. In the framework of the project, for the academic year 2022/2023 only, more than 1150 Bulgarian students from 30 schools in 15 different specialties are involved.