Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said at the ceremony, that the government aims to increase the number of apprentices with student contracts from the current 50 thousand to 70 thousand by 2018.

The award, established by the German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce and presented for the second time this year, has aimed at facilitating the development of vocational training in Hungary.

Mihály Varga, in his capacity as patron of the award, stressed that the Hungarian government had been improving the vocational training system and aiming to increase the number of facilities at which the dual vocational training system is used. Currently, 8 thousand enterprises participate in the scheme and their number is also planned to be increased to 20 thousand by 2018. The government also intends to restore the prestige of vocational training and skilled work. Over the past years, a new law on vocational training has been adopted and the subsidy system has been updated, but long-term success requires further measures and training courses must be tailored to economic demands, he said.

German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce President Dale A. Martin pointed out in his speech that high-quality entries which were submitted for the competition clearly show the commitment to practise-oriented vocational training.

German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce CEO Gabriel A. Brennauer stated that he believes that with the award, the Chamber had been contributing to the bolstering of the vocational training system. He stressed that countries with scarce resources of raw materials must place a special emphasis on education, knowledge, practise-oriented teaching of skills, first-rate higher education and constant professional trainings.

Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry President László Parragh emphasised that chambers of commerce are dedicated to practise-oriented training and it is of top priority to find potential participating enterprises.
HE Klaus Riedel, Germany’s Ambassador to Hungary highlighted the importance of innovation in his address and added that creative and innovative enterprises enjoy special market advantage.

31 entries had been submitted to the board of the Vocational Training Award, of which 16 were shortlisted.

In the category of motivation, the winner was the project of the Chamber of Commerce and Trade of Fejér County.

In the category of cooperation, the award went to a joint project by the Southern Transdanubia Machine Industry Cluster and the Pécs-Baranya Chamber of Commerce and Trade.

Within the innovation category, the e-learning course of Legrand Ltd has proven to be the best.

Special awards were also presented for Miklós Pultman and evopro Systems Engineering Ltd.

(Ministry for National Economy)