BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Jun 16 (NNN-ANN) – A total of 207 Brunei students, from the diploma programmes, launched jointly by their vocational education institutes and a Brunei-China joint venture, were awarded the Conditional Offer of Employment (COE) yesterday.
Hengyi Industries Sdn Bhd, is a petrochemical joint venture between China’s Zhejiang Hengyi Group and Damai Holdings, a wholly-owned subsidiary under the Brunei government’s Strategic Development Capital Fund, owning 70 percent and 30 percent of the shares, respectively.
Haji Khairuddin, Brunei’s Acting Minister, at the Prime Minister’s Office, and Second Minister of Finance and Economy, and Yu Hong, the Chinese ambassador to Brunei, were present to witness the COE-signing ceremony.
During the ceremony, representatives signed the COE on behalf of 176 students and 31 students respectively, from Politeknik Brunei (PB) and Institute of Brunei Technical Education (IBTE), two local vocational education institutes.
The collaboration with PB and IBTE is an initiative by Hengyi Industries, to create a platform where the youths of Brunei have the opportunity to hone and develop their skills, Deputy CEO of Hengyi Industries, Zou Hui, said.
As part of the collaboration, seven diploma programmes are offered to PB students, while one diploma programme is offered to IBTE students.
All the programmes are three-year full-time programmes under which, the students will undergo two years of studies at the respective institutions and one-year industrial-based learning with Hengyi Industries.
After completion of the programmes, the students will be given the opportunity for full-time employment at Hengyi Industries, Zou said.
The COE reflected Hengyi’s continuous commitment towards the country’s “Bruneianisation Directive,” a government initiative to drive the hiring of Bruneians in the private sector, and contribution to bilateral education cooperation and collaboration, in the human resources development, Zou added.
Hengyi signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Mar last year with PB, to run tailored academic programmes for students, including Thermal Power Plant Technology and Water Treatment Technology and awarded scholarships to 48 students from the IBTE in Aug, 2020.
The Joint Chemical and Process Engineering Scholarship Programme, established by Hengyi with Universiti Brunei Darussalam and China’s Zhejiang University, has also given over 100 local students scholarships to further their study in China and eventually be employed by Hengyi.
Hengyi invested about 3.45 billion U.S. dollars in the first phase of its oil refinery and petrochemical project in Brunei, which went into full operation in Nov, 2019. The company’s 13.654-billion-U.S. dollar second phase project is awaiting the green light from the Brunei government.– NNN-ANN
