Opportunities for youth at Hambantota job, education fair

By Shirajiv SIRIMANE

More than 200 instant employment opportunities would be on offer at the annual Hambantota Job Fair and Higher Education Exhibition which is being conducted by the District Chamber of Commerce (HDCC) in collaboration with World Vision, Lunugamvehera Regional Development Program and Hambantota District Secretariat. The Sunday Observer would be the media sponsor of the event to be held at the Hambantota Singapore Conference Hall on April 28.

More than 30 private companies which are seeking to employ staff and professional organisations that provide career skills and self-employment such as Sonak Lanka, David Peiris, LOLC, John Keells and Ceylinco Cisco will be participating at the event. Training providers such as technical colleges, Vocational Training Authority, NAITA, AAT, CIMA, Orient Academy, ICBT and MAL too will participate in this event. Several career counselling programs too will be conducted during the event.

The University of Ruhuna will conduct a special seminar on self-employment opportunities.

Self-employment service providers in the district will organise a 'Self-Employment Piyasa' at the job fair.

The keynote speech will be delivered by consultant and trainer Mohan Palliyaguru.

Over 2,000 job seekers will be given a rare opportunity to meet with these company representatives and professionals.

This will be a new experience for the youth of the area who now have many opportunities due to the mega development taking place in the area.

"Youth who were only seeking traditional employment opportunities in agriculture, fishing and self-employment now have windows of opportunities in the hotel trade, banking, maritime, aviation, sports, transport, IT and other areas, which were not possible in the past," said World Vision, Lunugamvehera Regional Development Program official, Aruna Liyange.

"The objective of this event is placing unemployed youth in employment, providing them with self-employment opportunities and guidance to develop their potential and talents in vocational activities," said CEO of the Hambantota Chamber of Commerce, Azmi Thassim.

As a social responsibility, and also as a contribution to the economic development of the district, HDCC manages the Career Service Centre (CSC) and Youth Business Sri Lanka Program (YBSL) which provide services and benefits to young people in the Hambantota district.

HDCC is the foremost representative of the private sector in the Hambantota district and its mission is to act as the 'gateway' for development, ensuring the social cohesion and economic success of the Hambantota district. The following are the participation organisations:

Board of Investment, Citizen Development Bank, National Human Resources Institution, Watch Guard Security Services (Pvt) Ltd, Eeswaran Brothers, MAL International, JayKay Marketing Services (Pvt) Limited, Keells Hotel Management Services Ltd, Ceylon Biscuits Limited, Richard Pieris Distributors Ltd, JobStreet.LK, Brandix - Mirijjawila, ICBT Campus, Orient Academy, NAITA(National Apprentice and Industrial Training Authority), Sonak Lanka(pvt)Ltd, Certis Lanka, AAT Sri Lanka, CIMA, Trans Man Power Services, David Pieris Motor Co.Ltd, Hambantota District Vocational Training Consortium, HNB Assurance, Airtel, Etisalat, Kane Apparels Mirijjawila (Pvt) Ltd, Amana Takaful Insurance, IBSL, George Steuart Recruitment (Pvt) Ltd, American Education Center and Unichela Garments, Koggala.

The chief guest at the event will be MP Namal Rajapaksa.