RHI : wins sustainability award Trigos 2017 for training project

• Award in the category Best Partnership - International Engagement

At yesterday's Trigos Gala, RHI AG was awarded the Austrian Trigos sustainability award for its Youth Employability Program (YEP) in the category 'Best Partnership - International Engagement'. With this initiative, RHI AG and the development organization ICEP supported a sustainable improvement of technical vocational training for young people in developing and emerging countries. 'This award is an important recognition of our strategic work in the area of CSR,' commented Thomas Jakowiak, CSO Industrial (Chief Sales Officer), who accepted the award on behalf of the entire Management Board, and added: 'In emerging and developing countries, a lack of training structures and a lack of tradition of in-company training increase the challenges for young people in the job market. Our initiative achieves both entrepreneurial and social added value on a sustained basis through practice-oriented vocational training.' In the course of the Youth Employability Program (YEP) from 2013 to 2016, RHI focused on Mexico and Turkey. According to the jury, RHI and its partners convinced them primarily by their focus on structural activities with multi-stakeholder integration. Since 2016 the different initiatives have been running independently and thus have a wide-ranging impact in the long term.

More than 350 apprentices trained in Mexico alone
At RHI's Mexican plant in Ramos Arizpe and in 26 other partner companies in the federal state of Coahuila, 356 apprentices have been and still are trained combining theory and practice. The objective was the introduction of dual training for electricians, toolmakers and mechatronics. In addition, 84 master craftsmen were qualified as in-plant trainers and 36 teachers received additional training. Since fall 2016, YEP has been continued independently by Coparmex Coahuila. The result of RHI's initiative is the firm establishment of dual technical training in the federal state of Coahuila, which by now has turned into a model region for all of Mexico.

Turkey: Education cluster for dual vocational training
The introduction of a dual training system was no option in Turkey due to the legal situation. In order to nevertheless promote the cooperation of industry and apprentice training, the 'Eskişehir education cluster' was initiated with a local project partner, the TEGEV foundation. Companies, the industry chamber, the Ministry of Education and teachers work for demand-oriented vocational training. In a pilot course, eleventh-grade students had the opportunity to complete and industrial internship, which was accompanied by their teachers. MAS, a subsidiary of RHI AG, took 36 of 82 students. In Turkey, the successful project has also been continued independently by the local education cluster since fall 2016. The project activities were 50% co-financed by the Austrian Development Agency as part of an economic partnership. RHI provided financial and personnel resources for the implementation. THE NGO ICEP, which specializes in the implementation of development projects, contributed the necessary know-how and the implementation expertise.