Zim, China sign skills training deal

Zvamaida Murwira Senior Reporter
Zimbabwe and China have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on International Professional Talents training in which Beijing would provide training on various fields like Chinese medicine, health care and education. The agreement was one of the several signed while President Mnangagwa was in China attending a Forum on China Africa Cooperation aimed at deepening relations between the Eastern Asian country and Africa.

The agreement, signed between China National Training Network and Zimbabwe China Youth Forum, was consistent with the implementation of China’s One Belt and Road Development strategy, one of the Asian country’s pillars for economic and trade cooperation.

It came as a result of increasing demand for technical exchange and talent training in professional fields between China and Zimbabwe.

The objective of the agreement was to further help Zimbabwe train its domestic talents. It will focus on areas like traditional Chinese medicine health care, preschool education, dietary nutrition, support the technology progress and industrial development, among others.

“Party A (China) will conduct free technology training for Party B’s (Zimbabwe) certain talents from time to time, and support Party B with its own construction of teaching staff in various fields, thus improve the development of talents,” reads the agreement.

“China will conduct training based on the needs of Zimbabwe. After rigorous assessment, professional skill training certificate from China National Training Network will be issued to prove both of their academic ability and technical level.

China plans to constantly provide over 1 000 Chinese experts who hold the senior professional skill certificate of China National Training Network in three years, and they will go to Zimbabwe for academic exchanges and technical sup- port.”

“Zimbabwe is responsible for coordinating with China to formulate the specific field and schedule for talent training, in order to organise academic exchanges and technical guidance of the two countries rigorously and efficiently. Zimbabwe is responsible for selecting and organising domestic talents to go to China or participate in professional technical training programmes of relevant fields at home,” reads the agreement.