An online signing ceremony of agricultural machinery training program was held simultaneously at Tianjin Modern Vocational Technology College (TMVTC) and MNS University of Agriculture Multan through Internet cloud technology, according to Gwadar Pro. Initiated by the Pakistani Luban Workshop, the program aims to promote China-Pakistan vocational education cooperation and serve international agricultural capacity cooperation under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. The training course pinpoints the huge demand for corn cultivation and harvesting in Punjab province. With the theme of "Application and Maintenance Technology of Self-propelled Corn Harvester”, 8 lectures and 2 seminars will be held within around one month. Those online courses focus on topics such as Tianjin's advantageous agriculture going global, development trend of agricultural machinery, application of UAV technology in agriculture and introduction of Luban Workshop project.

The organizers invited experts and senior engineers from several teaching and research institutes and enterprises in Tianjin to give lectures. Through the "cloud classroom", Chinese personnel provided targeted training to teachers and students of MNS University of Agriculture Multan, senior engineers of the Punjab Agricultural Mechanization Institute and advanced agricultural machinery users in Pakistan. Prof. Sun Deling, former Vice President of Tianjin Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and Prof. Zhang Baoqian, agricultural machinery expert at Tianjin Agricultural Development Service Center, delivered keynote speeches on "Tianjin's Agricultural Advantages and Scientific Research Achievements" and "Technology and Equipment for Full-scale Mechanization of Maize Production" respectively.

The organizers also invited staff from Tianjin Tailai Import and Export Co., Ltd to share their experience of agricultural machinery going abroad, and give a keynote speech on "Serving CPEC, Cultivating Agricultural Skills Talents”, introducing the practical experience of school-enterprise cooperation in improving agricultural capacity. According to TMVTC, training equipment used for this online teaching is maize harvester produced by Yongmeng Machinery Co., Ltd. The company will donate relevant equipment to Pakistan, and those equipment will arrive at MNS Agricultural University in December for offline practice. Luban Workshop, launched and run by Tianjin, represents a win-win model for international vocational education cooperation, sharing China's educational achievements and resources with countries in need.

In April 2017, TMVTC and MNS University of Agriculture signed an MoU of cooperation to establish a Luban Workshop in Pakistan. Since its operation in Pakistan in 2018, TMVTC has been continuously promoting the construction of projects in Pakistan. Focusing on academic education and vocational training respectively, the college has established two Luban workshops in Lahore and Multan in collaboration with its Pakistani partners. Those workshops will explore the development of whole-process mechanization training for one or two kinds of crops, provide high-quality vocational skills training for Pakistani youths under the mode of international industry-education cooperation, and facilitate cooperation between Chinese and Pakistani agriculture-related enterprises.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP