The Regional Challenge Fund (RCF) organized its First Annual Regional Conference to announce the results and experience of the regional competition to support investment in cooperative training. From February to April this year, the RCF opened a competition and received 205 applications from consortia composed of vocational training institutions and companies from all Western Balkan countries. 66 consortia were shortlisted and invited to prepare detailed project proposals. In addition, the decision of the Election Commission on the allocation of funds for the first competition for funding proposed 37 most successful projects and about 14.5 million euros were allocated for this region.
“The mission of the Fund and this project was to improve the quality and importance of vocational education and training by financing investments in equipment and infrastructure for selected cooperative/dual training projects implemented within partnerships between vocational training institutions and companies. We are extremely pleased that so many candidates have submitted their applications and that we can stand behind more than 35 successful projects. We will continue with the second competition at the beginning of 2022 and we look forward to providing support in this important area,” said Frieder Woehrmann, Leader of the RCF Fund Management Team.
The Regional Challenge Fund (RCF) is a funding program aimed at improving youth employment opportunities. This program encourages the competitiveness of Western Balkan companies by financing investments in equipment and infrastructure for selected cooperative/dual training projects implemented through partnerships between vocational training institutions and companies. Funds are awarded on the basis of regional bidding.
Santiago Alonso-Rodriguez from the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) pointed out: “The Regional Challenge Fund refers to regional integration and opportunities for economic growth. We are talking about creating sustainable and fair opportunities for young people, and especially women, to take their future into their own hands. RCF is our very important project. Already in the first months of implementation, we managed to bring together the private sector and vocational education institutions for the benefit of all participants. Therefore, I am glad to announce that we have managed to mobilize an additional 13.5 million euros for grants, which increases our support to 33.5 million euros.”
Klaus-Martin Müller, Director of the KfW Development Bank for Southeast Europe and Turkey, said: “We often see how difficult it is to motivate the private sector to become more actively involved in vocational education and training. We invest a lot in developing the concept and approach to this process. We are very happy that with the RCF alone we can successfully motivate the private sector to join forces with vocational schools in the application process. The success so far has exceeded our expectations.”
The RCF recognizes three additional aspects that apply to all sectors of the economy and the country and their potential for developing labor market skills in line with current initiatives: green transition, regional integration and digitalisation. The first annual conference brought together officials and experts from the EU, state institutions and organizations active in the field of vocational education and training, chambers of commerce, international and regional organizations, companies and civil society organizations.
Within the panel on green vocational education, Esma Manić, advisor for energy and resource efficiency from Bosnia and Herzegovina, pointed out that the entire industrial sector in our country is based on fossil fuels, the technology used is outdated and low efficiency, small and medium-sized enterprises are affected by the pandemic and that they are not in a good position.
“The transition from the existing to the future concept of development is the most radical technical, economic, social and political change we have encountered so far, and it is necessary to make additional efforts to achieve goals and achieve the expected benefits. The whole process implies a new approach to energy use, production of goods and lifestyle in general, which takes into account environmental and climatic constraints in the realization of socio-economic development goals. Given the link between energy transition and industrial development, the acquisition of new knowledge and skills is inevitable. Mining areas are especially interesting. About 17,000 employed people work in that system. They have to acquire new knowledge and skills in order to improve the situation for the better,” said Manić and concluded: “Whether the transition is a crisis or a chance – depends on ourselves.”
The Regional Challenge Fund is an innovative program aimed at increasing the productivity and competitiveness of companies from the Western Balkans. The fund was initiated by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and it is in charge of the KfW Development Bank. It is implemented by the Western Balkans Chamber of Investment Forum (WB6-CIF), a joint initiative of the region’s chambers of commerce.
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