The minister of public works and transport, Yousef Finianos, launched yesterday a five-year ‘initiative to establish academy for training of Lebanese youth on used professions’ under the management of the Beirut Container Terminal Consortium (BCTC). The projected academy, reportedly the first in the region, was announced from BCTC in the presence of British Ambassador to Lebanon, Hugo Shorter, Beirut Port Authority’s director, Hassan Kraytem, general manager of transport, Abdel Hafiz Kaisi, BCTC chairman and CEO, Ammar Kanaan, and a delegation of the British-Lebanese Business Group. The guests were briefed first, on the progress of work at the Container and its positive impact on national economy as a result of constant cooperation between big companies, businessmen and the public and private sectors, and second, on how containers are traded to create new job opportunities. Finianos said he was pleased to be present at the event which reflects the outcomes of a successful partnership between the private and public sectors on one hand, and between Lebanon and the UK on the other. "The profession of management of container terminals did not exist in Lebanon before 2005, where the majority of employees came from British Liverpool,” Finianos said. But in less than 2 years, the Lebanese staff completed training and a whole crew was ready to work, the minister said. “Lebanon now boasts expertise and is exporting human resources in the field to world countries and this is a great honor to us”, the minister concluded. (Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, June 22, 2017)
