SHMA ties up with NYC to increase trained personnel in hospitality industry

The Swiss Hotel Management Academy (SHMA) of A. Baur and Co. Pvt. Ltd., also known as Baurs recently signed an MoU with the National Youth Corps of Sri Lanka (NYC) to encourage and empower Lankan youth to equip them with required skills and talent to take on as tomorrow’s leaders in the hospitality industry.

NYC which comes under the purview of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs will now be a learning partner for the Skills for Sustainable Growth (SSG) project, a private and public sector partnership between Baurs and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the agency for international cooperation of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) of Switzerland.

The MoU was signed recently at the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs’ auditorium with SHMA and Baurs represented by Rolf Blaser, CEO/Managing Director; Pavithra Samarasinghe, Director Finance and Compliance; Daniela Munasinghe, GM of Education and Tourism, Sureeka Fernando, SHMA Manager; Cheryl Arndt, Project Leader, and NYC by its Director Brig. Sujeewa Rathnayake, Add. Director Training and Development Saman Kulasuriya, Director Central Province Major. Ashoka Wijerathne, and Asst. Director Development Inoka Gunawardhana.

The event was graced by Minister Roshan Ranasinghe, joined by the Deputy Head of Mission Olivier Praz and First Secretary, Migration Doris Manor from the Embassy of Switzerland in Sri Lanka.

The SSG project aims to create 2,240 skilled young men and women by 2025 including increased female participation in hospitality education to 40%, with a two-third of its curriculum weighing towards practical on-the-job training coupled with internships and possible extension in various hotels. SHMA will also be opening a total of eight SSG centers by the end of 2025.