Amman, April 12 (Petra) -- Acting Director General of the Vocational Training Corporation (VTC) Raafat Sawafin on Sunday inaugurated the Jordanian-Italian Center for Training and Qualification in Amman's Naour District.
According to a Labor Ministry statement, Sawafin said the center is one of the VTC’s specialized facilities, with capacity for 100 male and female trainees across seven workshops, which are designed to train youth on skills to meet labor market demand. He said the center currently has 129 trainees enrolled.
Sawafin added that cooperation between CESF Perugia and the VTC is intended to prepare a workforce that meets requirements of the Italian labor market, upgrade trainees’ skills in line with Italian standards, and address labor demand in Italy, particularly in construction, occupational safety, and health sectors.
The partnership also aims to expand international employment opportunities under vocational and language training, while strengthening human capital and preparing workers to integrate into overseas work environments, he said.
Sawafin said the agreement reflects King Abdullah II’s Economic Modernization Vision, which calls for developing human capital and enabling young people to acquire specialized skills that broaden employment prospects inside and outside Jordan.
He said the VTC is working to build an "integrated" vocational training system that supports productive employment and enhances "competitiveness" of Jordanian talent in regional and global markets.
He added that "advanced" training programs will be introduced in applied Italian language, hands-on training in artificial intelligence, digital transformation, and green technologies, in line with European labor market requirements.
Under the agreement, around 300 skilled Jordanian workers will be dispatched annually to Italy through an accredited employment program, alongside development of specialized training programs delivered in Jordan in accordance with European Union standards, he said.
The programs, he noted, are intended to align Jordanian skills with the needs of the Italian and broader European labor markets.
He said the cooperation framework features steps to set trainee selection criteria in line with Italian standards and design vocational training programs that combine practical instruction with certified Italian language skills.
The collaboration also aims to implement upskilling programs for in-demand occupations, provide practical training in simulated real-work environments, and facilitate technical exchange between Jordanian and Italian experts, he pointed out.
Sawafin said the center has already delivered its first occupational safety and health course, as 20 trainees from the Naour and Umm Al-Basatin municipalities completed 24 training hours.
He added that a remote occupational safety and health course was also held for 17 trainees from Wadi Musa District in Ma’an Governorate, as well as another course at the Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority involving 21 trainees from the authority and the local community.
//Petra// AO
