The delegation started with a tour at Eswatini College of Technology where they witnessed the first-ever Data Processing Clerk trade test at the ICT Department and then proceeded to the Hospitality and Tourism Department to also witness the first Cooking Trade test.  The tour ended at the DIVT electrical trade testing workshop and the delegation had a brief meeting to conclude the tours.

The DIVT Director Mr. Earnest Simelane first introduced the Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security Rev Anthony Masilela and described him as a highly experienced government top official as head of administration, with past experience in Home Affairs Ministry and also the Ministry of Rural Development. The US was representing the MoLSS as the Minister and Principal Secretary in his ministry were held up at an equally important assignment that they had to together attend in the morning. The US, on behalf of His Majesty’s Government of The Kingdom of Eswatini, he welcomed and thanked the delegation. He thanked the delegation for the great work that Taiwan is doing for the Kingdom especially in skills development in the country particularly the Technical and Vocational Skills Certification Enhancement Project which started in 2021. He highlighted that the Project has done a lot of work in strengthening TVET in the country and further exemplified the work with the toured workshops at ECOT where the project donated equipment and trained local personnel. He further expressed thanks for the DIVT workshop improvement. He said also that even rural electrification in the country has achieved 96% access rate, thanks to the Taiwan Government for the support. He shared that the Kingdom and Taiwan comes a long way and its date back as far as 1968 when the country gained independence.

In summary, the US gave 4 highlights about the Project support in strengthening TVET in the country:

1. Up-to-date, the Project has helped the DIVT with trade testing of 877 candidates in various trades like electrical wiremen, welding, HVAC, cooking and data processing clerks.
2. Strengthen capacity of trade testing and upskilling through donation of equipment used.
3. Improvement of the electrical trade testing workshop at the DIVT which has positively helped in reducing the backlog in trade testing as trade testing can now be done regularly. 
4. Development of occupation standards and vocational qualifications for electrical engineering, motor vehicle mechanics, welding and fabrication, hospitality and tourism etc.

 In conclusion, he said his ministry is looking forward to continued support in skills development and prayed that the newly submitted proposal for the next project is successful to ensure continuation of the good work. He also reported that his Ministry together with the Ministry of Education and Training are working together in aligning with registration requirement for WorldSkills International to increase skills relevancy and adoption.

The Taiwan Technical Mission Chief introduced the 5-member Taiwan ICDF delegation which comprised of the Taiwan ICDF board member, Deputy Secretary General, Technical Operations Divisions Director, Taiwan ICDF Director and one Ministry of Foreign affairs official.  He allowed the head of the delegation, the Deputy Secretary General to make remarks. The Secretary General shared his excitement in the progress demonstrated by the Project over its enactment in the country and clarified that their purpose of visit in the country was to monitor or observe the Project achievements. He said that Taiwan’s support to vocational skills training was indeed dating back to a very long time as highlighted by the US. He elaborated that the first cooperation was with the ministry of commerce and industry in helping Eswatini National Handcraft Training College.  The Secretary General emphasized the importance of aligning vocational training with the needed of the industries. He expressed his pleasure on how the Project has achieved its sole aims and objectives in shaping the vocational training in the country.

The US then introduced his team; the Chief Tertiary Inspector, DIVT Director and Vice – Principal of Eswatini college of Technology. The Chief Tertiary Inspector expressed appreciation in welcoming the Taiwan ICDF and thanked them for the support extended to the Kingdom and most people in the rural countryside. The DIVT director shared that he had worked with the Taiwan ICDF for a very long time while he was still employed within the ministry of education and shared that throughout his interaction with the Project, he had been exposed to a lot of good works done by the Project.

The DIVT Director shared that in the 1^st project they were able to send lecturers to Taiwan for Masters studies, get equipment donation for motor vehicle mechanics and ICT.  He said that in the second phase of the project they then decided that in the next project, they need to consider the curricula as the new equipment and trained teachers are not enough to produce the best without the industry involvement in shaping the occupational studies for regional and international relevance. He said that the next work to be done now would be to capacitate the instructors on delivering the training aligned to the qualification and then expand the overall project impact.