A Bulgarian-German center was officially opened Monday in the regional, southern city of Smolyan to be used for staff training, mainly for employees working in the tourism sector.

The construction cost is BGN 2.5M. Experts will teach courses such as "Administration and Management," "Hotel, Restaurant Management and Catering," "IT Applications," "Food Technologies," and "Gardening."

The facility includes a dormitory, hotel rooms, practice kitchen, seminar and lecture halls.

There will be day, evening, distance and individual classes for bartenders, waiters, chefs, hotel owners, administrators, mountain guides, tour guides, animators, and beauticians. All graduates will receive professional certificates and licensees.

"The crisis is gradually leaving and serious investments are coming to Bulgaria in the next few years. For this reason, we must have qualified, competitive work force. In the conditions of crisis, the labor market is the one facing the most difficulties in its recovery, but we are making exceptional efforts," Bulgaria's Social Policy and Labor Minister, Totyu Mladenov, said during the official opening ceremony.

Mladenov reminded the unemployment rate in the last 8 months was maintained consistently around or below 9%, due mostly to the work of the Employment Agency, national programs, and the better utilization of EU funds from the "Human Resources Development" program, adding 46 new measures with a budget of BGN 850 M would be launched under the program on December 1.

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