Mrs. Tawin Phiumpheansin, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Skill Development, Ministry of Labour and Mr. Philipp Pischke, Director of the Thailand Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (RAC NAMA) Project, GIZ

Bangkok, 15 November 2018 – The Department of Skill Development (DSD) of the Ministry of Labour and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cooperate on skills development for technicians in the refrigeration and air conditioning (RAC) sector with a  focus on natural refrigerants. The aim is to enhance their skills and capacities through training.

Mrs. Tawin Phiumpheansin, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Skill Development, Ministry of Labour, said: “Pol. Gen. Adul Saengsingkaew announced a new policy for DSD for 2019 to enhance the skills of the workforce and turn them into “Super Workers” by developing their expertise and abilities to prepare them for the 10 targeted industries in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC). He reiterated the intention to employ a strategy that integrates the work of government agencies, the private sector and national and international educational institutions in human resources planning that is responsive to the labour market’s needs. DSD has partnered with GIZ to develop the skills of technicians in the use of natural refrigerants for ‘Green Jobs’.”

“GIZ will support DSD in transferring knowledge on the proper handling of natural refrigerants. It will also help with training equipment and materials and provide technical experts from Germany as instructors for DSD trainers who will then be a connecting point to the Thai workforce. It is expected that the training will start in the first quarter of 2019. We have set a target of 48 trained trainers across the country and we expect to disseminate the knowledge to 2,000 technicians and other stakeholders within 2 years.” Mrs. Tawin added.

Mr. Philipp Pischke, Director of the Thailand Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (RAC NAMA) Project, GIZ said: “The partnership with DSD is one of the activities under the RAC NAMA project to enhance the skills of RAC technicians in Thailand and equip them with the knowledge to keep up with new technologies in the RAC sector. We will develop skill standards and a curriculum for the safe use of natural refrigerants and support the organisation of training for trainers. The training comprises both theoretical and practical segments on the safe handling of natural refrigerants, proper installation and servicing tools for RAC appliances, symbols and warning signs, and the method for charging and reclaiming refrigerants. In addition, the RAC NAMA Fund, which has officially been established with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) as the national fund recipient and project fund manager, will be allocated for the procurement of facilities for selected training centers. We hope that this cooperation will bring excellence to the labour force while also serving to bring skill standards in Thailand into line with international ones.”

RAC NAMA Project
The Thailand Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (RAC NAMA) project supports Thailand in reaching its energy savings and greenhouse gas mitigation targets by promoting natural refrigerants for energy efficient and climate-friendly cooling technologies. The project strengthens the competitiveness of producers and commercial end-users in the refrigeration and air-conditioning (RAC) sector. It is funded by the NAMA Facility on behalf of the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and the UK’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.