Thales, a global technology leader in the aerospace, transportation and defence & security markets, has partnered with the Egyptian Ministry of Transport to set up a rail transport academy.  

This deal will support the development of Egypt's rail industry, while delivering real added value to the country’s higher education sector, said Egypt’s Transport Minister Prof Ibrahim El-Dimeery after signing the MoU for creation of  Egyptian Academy of Transport Science and Technology (EATST).

The academy will help train local engineers and managers in Egypt who in turn, will resource the country’s demand for new transport links in rail, said El-Dimeery at the signing ceremony in Paris.

The MoU builds on an initial partnership agreement signed between the Ministry of Transport and Thales in 2010 and broadens its scope through the creation of a truly multi-domain transport academy, north of Cairo.

Thales, via its corporate university, will carry out a feasibility study for the academy and propose academic and professional training programmes in the field of urban and main line rail. The academy will eventually be capable of welcoming more than 1,000 students and trainees, with an initial year group of 200 starting in 2014.

Egypt has a pressing need to train local talent in various rail industry fields, in particular since the government has launched an ambitious plan to modernise the country’s urban and main line rail infrastructure.

"This new joint initiative in the transport sector, and particularly in rail, will help us to develop the new generation of Egyptian engineers and managers, thereby serving the country’s strategic objectives," remarked Ibrahim El-Dimeery.

"The partnership with Thales will allow the Egyptian Academy of Transport Science and Technology to deliver international-standard higher education for students and professionals," the minister added.

Thales is a long-standing partner of both the rail and training sectors in Egypt. In 2013, the group had won the first contract under the country’s modernisation plan, which called for the upgrade of the 208 km-long Cairo-Alexandria line.

Thales is also the main supplier of ticketing and communication systems for the Cairo metro.

Michelangelo Neri, the head of Thales in Egypt said:"This partnership with the Egyptian Ministry of Transport follows on from projects already launched in 2010. Thales offers turnkey training solutions ranging from design and development to implementation and support for the creation of academies in technology sectors."
 
Thales, he stated, had extensive experience in knowledge transfers across all its areas of expertise. "For example, the group is currently partnering with Malaysian authorities in setting up a rail transport academy in Kuala Lumpur, and also this January we had signed an agreement for the creation of a rail academy in the UAE," noted Neri.

The MoU underlines once again that Thales is committed to supporting its customers by helping to develop their human resources, as well as supplying technological solutions, he added.-TradeArabia News Service