KAMZA, ALBANIA     Today, U.S. Ambassador to Albania, Donald Lu, and Slovenian Ambassador, H. E. Lea Stančič, inaugurated the Vocational Education and Training Center at the Agriculture University of Tirana (AUT). USAID, Slovenia’s Center for International Cooperation and Development, and the Agriculture University of Tirana (AUT) have partnered  in a three year, $510,000 program to establish a functioning Vocational Education and Training Center at AUT that will provide competency-based vocational education and training to mid-career professionals in the agriculture sector in Albania and in the future in South Eastern Europe.

AUT is the only state institution in Albania which trains veterinarians who are essential to ensuring animal health and food safety in the country. Many graduates go on to work as inspectors of food safety at borders and points of agro-processing for meat and dairy products, or work to ensure the health of herds. The Center is fully equipped to provide practical, market-focus training and laboratory services for veterinarians, and have the capacity to conduct quality and food safety analysis.

After the inauguration, Ambassador Lu also visited other recent U.S. assistance investments at AUT, including the Veterinary Medicine’s Physiology Lab which USAID supplied with computers, strong simulation software, and additional equipment to enhance the practical laboratory experience of veterinary students. Lu also visited 1500m2 landscape demonstration garden that USAID built to support AUT’s Department of Horticulture’s undergraduate and master level study of landscape architecture.

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