Two training centres that will help build competitive leather and textile industries in Mongolia have been officially opened. The Industry of the Future blended learning centre is located at the Experiment, Manufacturing and Business Corporation of Light Industry (ARMONO), and the Textile Finishing Incubator Centre is at the Research and Development Institute of Light Industry (RDILI).
The centres have been established as part of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) project, Support to Employment Creation in Mongolia (SECIM C2), funded by the European Union and implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture of Light Industry (MoFALI).
The opening of the Industry of the Future blended learning centre coincides with the 50th anniversary of the ARMONO corporation. During the inauguration ceremony, 11 e-learning course materials, developed by the project experts, were formalized with the signing of an agreement between ARMONO, the Mongolian Association of Leather Industry (MALI), the Mongolian University of Science and Technology (MUST), the Research and Development Institute of Light Industry (RDILI), Urlakh Erdem Fashion Design Institute (UEFDI), Erdene TVET, Mongol-Korea Polytechnic College and the Mongolian Red Cross Society.
During the opening ceremony for the Textile Finishing Incubator Centre, a comprehensive package consisting of a Knitwear Wet Finishing e-learning course, a book, a standard operating procedure with manufacturing equipment, and the first samples wool and cashmere products was presented.
Mongolia’s Minister of Food and Agriculture of Light Industry, Ulaan Chultem, and the European Union’s Ambassador to Mongolia, Traian Laurentiu Hristea, attended the openings and both highlighted UNIDO’s strong contribution to Mongolia’s economic diversification by bringing its global technical expertise and best practices.
The EU Ambassador hailed the opening of the Industry of Future blended training centre as “one of the examples of institutionalizing e-learning programmes, which have been developed and introduced by UNIDO for building capacity of the sector”. He also highlighted the importance of the Research and Development Institute’s role in the development of the industry, stressing, “Research and development is crucial to meet international standards and introduce modern technology for the production of Mongolian goods.”
UNIDO and MoFALI are encouraging young entrepreneurs to make use of these training premises and knowledge products to help build their competitive and innovative business initiatives.