Group photo taken at the ceremony marking the Thailand Luban Workshop's 7th anniversary on Aug 31. [Photo provided to tianjin.chinadaily.com.cn]

The Thailand Luban Workshop, the first of its kind in the world, has celebrated its 7th anniversary.

Master Somdet Thongchai, chairman of the board of the Maritime Silk Road Confucius Institute in Thailand, congratulated the project at a ceremony held at Ayutthaya Technical College on Aug 31. He honored the responsible persons of Thailand's vocational education authority and schools who first supported involvement with China by signing memorandums of understanding in Tianjin, and recalled the story of attending the launch ceremony in March, 2016.

He believed that the China-led project will help promote employment and improve people's livelihoods in countries along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, and particularly noted the cooperation between the two sides.

Tanu Vongjinda, secretary-general of the Thai Vocational Education Commission, stated in his speech that the majors offered by the workshop have precisely met the demand for high-quality talents in Thailand's industrial and transportation sectors. The workshop can be regarded as the commission's pride in having created a model for other educational institutions to promote vocational education management worldwide.

After the celebration ceremony, Somdet Thongchai, Feng Junying, education counsellor of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the kingdom of Thailand, and Wei Bingju, Party secretary of Tianjin Bohai Vocational Technical College (TBVTC), went to the Thai Luban Workshop to inaugurate the upgrading and renovation project. They jointly pressed the launch switch.

The upgrading and renovation project includes the addition of automated production lines and Internet of Things technology application equipment, and an increase in the number of training workstations and the types of equipment, which will play a greater role in professional teaching, skill competitions, skill training, and faculty development.

The attendees also experienced simulation training of new energy vehicles in the virtual world.

During the event, the TBVTC and Tianjin Railway Technical and Vocational College (TRTVC) signed a memorandum for talent cultivation with Ayutthaya Technical College.

After the event, Mayuree Sriraboot, principal of Ayutthaya Technical College, Jarun Youbrum, winner of the Chinese Government Friendship Award and one of the founders of the Thailand Luban Workshop, Wei Bingju, and Li Zhihui, vice president of TRTVC, visited the Luban Workshop students who are going to study in China and their parents.