Yunus's initiative for vocational training school in Albania

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, right; and General Manager of Tirana Business Park Carsten Conrad, left, sign a deal to launch social business in Tirana, Albania, on Monday. Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha, centre, is also seen. Photo: Yunus Centre

Yunus Social Business in Albania and Tirana Business Park, an investment of Germany-based Lindner Group, have teamed up to set up a vocational training school for the unemployed youth in the impoverished European country.
Prof Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel laureate and founder of Grameen Bank, and Carsten Conrad, general manager of Tirana Business Park, signed a memorandum of understanding for the Vocational Training Social Business in the Albanian capital on Monday.
The ceremony was held at the Tirana Business Park in Albania, in the presence of Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha.
The centre will initially train new plumbers, electricians and industrial mechanics, with more subjects being added in later years, Yunus Centre in Dhaka said in a statement yesterday.
While there have been signs of economic progress, Albania remains one of the poorest in Europe outside the former Soviet Union and unemployment is stubbornly high.
The school will be sited on the Tirana Business Park campus and draw on the vast knowledge and expertise of these professions within Tirana Business Park and its German parent company.
The vocational training centre will be structured as a separate company clearly aligned with the principles of social business, with equity held by both Tirana Business Park and Yunus Social Business in Albania.
The Lindner Group is Europe's leading company for the building envelope, interior fit-out, insulation and construction-related services.