By King’s Office Correspondents
The Eswatini Embassy in Taiwan is to develop a skills database of university graduates, an initiative that is likely to be replicated in other embassies.
This follows a directive by His Majesty the King issued on Thursday during a courtesy call by emaSwati where they introduced themselves and their line of study and work in Taiwan.
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The students had asked the King to urge the government to prepare a list of available job opportunities in companies that require their skills, as well as upcoming or ongoing projects that they could participate in by getting access to funding.
The students also requested the King to urge the government to pool the country’s engineers to form a group of innovators, new technology implementers and solution finders, given the level of expertise they had acquired.
“Having listened to your submissions, there is a need to capture your curriculum vitae (CVs) and create a database from which we can refer when the country requires the different level of expertise you are acquiring here,” he said.
The king urged the embassy to gather all their CVs, stressing the importance of using the advanced training for the country’s benefit such as in the ongoing projects.
“As you may be aware, Eswatini and Taiwan are in the process of building a biotechnology park.
We expect you to make use of the skills that you have acquired at this facility. We must work towards emulating the success of the biotechnology parks in Taiwan,
some of which have been able to generate about USD 200 billion annually. We may not reach this target early on, but we can start somewhere in the region of USD 10 billion,” he said.
His Majesty added that, as part of the bilateral cooperative agreements, the country had also partnered with Taiwan to build a strategic oil reserve whose designs are at an advanced stage.
“In the spirit of Nkwe, we hope to begin the project in the next two months. We, therefore, look forward to making use of the many engineers trained here,” the King added.
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Around 1000 students are enrolled in various universities, and more than 2,000 teachers are teaching English in various schools to assist Taiwan in achieving its Bilingual 2030 policy aimed at boosting language proficiency and international mobility to improve the competitiveness of the country’s next generation for better job prospects.
Not all emaSwati students were present, as Eswatini Ambassador to Taiwan, Promise Msibi, reported that some were at work, some were in class, while others were preparing for graduation ceremonies scheduled for tomorrow (Saturday).
The king also called on students who were struggling with tuition after failing to obtain scholarships to send their names to the embassy.
“You have also mentioned the challenges associated with the lack of scholarships; Take this matter to the embassy so that there is a database of these students needing such support.
This will enable the government to investigate this issue,” he said.
