“It is an honour for us, because it is an opportunity for us to put our capabilities and mission within education and training at the service of Mozambique,” stated Rogério Simões, representing the Portuguese EPABI, after signing the memorandum of understanding at the Ministry of Economy in Maputo to increase the number of places.

Rogério Simões recalled that the school has already welcomed 70 students from Mozambique and, with the memorandum of understanding signed today, involving the new Agency for Tourism Development and Investment (Anditur) of Mozambique, “stability is established for the next three years for another 150 places,” with partial scholarships.

“These are essentially 150 more opportunities for young people to develop their skills, work on their life projects, and for us to contribute, with what little we can and know, to the future of Mozambique,” explained the Portuguese leader.

Focused on artistic and vocational education, the Professional and Artistic School of Beira Interior is part of the GPS group, one of the largest private education groups in Portugal.

“It is with great satisfaction, and also great pride, that we signed this memorandum and once again thank the entire partnership, all the work, all the entrepreneurial capacity, innovation, and vision that the Government of Mozambique has shown in allowing us to work together for the future of young people and Mozambique,” he concluded.

The agreement was signed by the Government of Mozambique, through the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Economy, Jorge Fernando Jairoce, who also highlighted the scope of cooperation with Portugal in this area.

“One challenge we have in the tourism sector, which is also in the Government's five-year plan, is to improve our technical and professional capacity to meet the need to provide good service in the tourism sector. We have a great challenge in this area, and this memorandum, which aims at training young professional technicians, is to ensure good services in the tourism sector in the future,” the official emphasised, pointing to the objective of renewing this agreement.

“To be able to cover the whole country, there is a great need for training in this area,” he concluded.