Leader

RKK’s internationalisation activities are booming. Our focal areas remain Africa, Eurasia and Asia.

Africa, Eurasia and Asia

Major longterm contracts in Angola (MAPESS og MINPET) and in Nigeria with UNITAR, plus interest from a number of other countries in Africa , have resulted in our opening a dedicated Africa office in Namibia (Walvis Bay) in order to serve this market more efficiently. We have succeeded in recruiting highly competent people to staff the office and we look forward to substantial growth in the years ahead. It is especially satisfactory to be able to employ local personnel.

We are also in the process of establishing a separate administration for our projects in Luanda, Angola. Our most important partners in these projects are the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Norwegian Embassies in the countries concerned, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate and the different national authorities. In addition, and not least, we enjoy close relations with Norwegian enterprises operating in the countries where we are engaged. These partners are important in developing “local content” and are active in the dimensioning and development of standards.

Our first major benchmark project, commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the authorities in Kazakhstan, has proved a great success, thanks to constructive collaboration at the highest political level together with sound regional ties at executive level. We are presently considering an extension and expansion of the project following an approach from the Kazakhstani authorities. In addition to our main project, we have also delivered training concepts in Health Care education, covering a range of subjects such as Cancer Care, Care of the Elderly and Mental Health Care.

Further, we are working on concrete plans for corresponding projects in other countries in the region, including Turkmenistan, at the instigation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In Asia we have been engaged for some years in the field of vocational education, with emphasis on petroleum subjects and mechanics. In collaboration with the Danish organisation Danida we have run instructor training for teachers from Dung Quat College in Process Operator subjects. Here too we anticipate an increased level of activity.

The RKK approach, with its clear focus on vocational education as a means of combating unemployment, emphasis on local content and public management of education, is favourably received by an increasing number of authorities and enterprises.

There is no doubt that the societal development that has taken place in Norway provides a model for other nations. Through our commitment and experience we can make a not inconsiderable contribution to this kind of development. The focus is on:

• Local labour at international standard with public management
• Replace international experts with local expertise
• Vocational training and adult education

Europe

Our strategic plan to develop a network of European contacts/partners through participation in pilot and development projects under EU programmes open to us through the EEA Agreement has met with great success. We now have contacts/partners in most European countries, including the newer member countries. This enables us to continue linking Norwegian organisations, public sector services, businesses and schools to partners in concrete projects. For more than 10 years, we have also been host to various groups under the CEDEFOP study visit programme, which is for vocational education specialists from all over Europe. We have hosted about 20 groups, meaning that 300 or more people, representing most countries in Europe, have visited Stavanger and Rogaland.

The establishment of our EU-Nett has further strengthened and developed our work in this area.