PHNOM PENH: Prime Minister Hun Manet spoke at the official launch of the vocational training program that aims to provide technical training to 1.5 million impoverished and at-risk youth. He compared the program to the old adage: “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”

The new program launched on November 14, alongside a social healthcare initiative for civil servants and self-employed workers. The Prime Minister said that providing technical and vocational training to the poor will provide them with a better life by maintaining stability and growth. He said that those enrolled in the program will receive real world skills that meet the needs of the labor market while helping raise families out of poverty.

At present, the Royal Government is providing cash assistance to more than 700,000 impoverished families, which is to help them through difficulties such as the impact of Covid-19. The PM said that such handouts do not make people stronger or able to build their own livelihoods.

"Overall, the introduction of this vocational and technical training program is an effort by the Royal Government to help people in poor and vulnerable families to have the knowledge and skills to be able to find job. It’s like digging a big pond to raise fish and teaching the fishermen how to fish. It will give you the opportunity and the right to make your own fishing choices," he said.

Labor Minister Heng Sour said the Ministry has identified 38 skills that applicants can apply for online, at vocational schools or at their local Departments of Labor and Mobile Employment Centers of the National Employment Agency.

Prime Minister Hun Manet urged families and young people to study hard to gain useful knowledge and skills through the training. The program aims to promote Cambodia’s youth as a major force of the national economy, training up to 1.5 million people.