SINGAPORE - Panama will be taking further steps to deepen the relationship between its Instituto Tecnico Superior Especializado (ITSE) and Singapore's Institute of Technical Education (ITE), said Panamanian Foreign Minister Erika Mouynes.
Panama has modelled its vocational education institute on Singapore's, and now that the infrastructure is complete, it will be looking to take teaching and other practices such as industry immersion from ITE, she added.
Ms Mouynes, who was speaking to The Straits Times on Tuesday morning (April 12), a day after visiting ITE Central in Ang Mo Kio, said: "We're looking for a model like Singapore's where you get inputs from the industry in terms of what skill sets are required in order to prepare curriculum.
"We want to make sure students remain engaged and truly prepared for the outside world and for vocational students to be doing things that are practical and in tune to the reality of what's needed in the workplace."
During her visit to the campus on Monday, Ms Mouynes signed a memorandum of understanding with ITE Education Services - the institute's education consultancy arm - to deepen collaboration in skills education and training.
Chief executive officer of ITE Education Services Bruce Poh said: "Moving forward, Panama's ITSE plans to engage the ITE Education Services to review their existing training curriculum and develop their trainers' pedagogical and technical capability."
This follows on from previous engagements between the two institutions, which included an on-site study by Singapore's ITE to understand skills-training needs and gaps in Panama.
ITE Education Services also conducted a workshop on campus planning and development for ITSE and an executive development workshop for ITSE leaders, and also provided curriculum materials, he added.
Panama's ITSE building was completed in 2019 and its campus was designed by Singaporean firm RSP Architects Engineers and Planners, which also designed Nanyang Technological University's Academic Building South and the Singapore Institute of Technology's Punggol Campus Court.
Ms Mouynes, who is visiting Singapore on the last leg of her trip around the region, met Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Istana on Monday. Over the last week, she has been in China, Vietnam and Indonesia, and will be leaving for home on Wednesday.
Panama, a nation of 4.3 million on the southern tip of Central America, is in a similar economic position as Singapore as a hub for trade and connectivity, she said.
"We are the bridge to the Americas and we're hoping Singapore will be a bridge to South-east Asia for Panama."
Ms Mouynes added that Panama intends to join Asean's Treaty of Amity and Cooperation - a peace treaty established in 1976.
Panama is also looking to improve commercial ties with Singapore and Asia, including the flow of Panamanian goods like poultry and seafood to Asia and vice versa, she added.
"For Singapore, ties with Panama can open all the markets of the Latin American countries."
Roughly $368 billion worth of cargo passes through the Panama Canal yearly, according to the International Finance Corporation, and it serves more than 140 maritime routes to over 80 countries.
The artificial canal - which opened in 1914 - connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, greatly reducing the time taken for ships to travel between them, as they are able to avoid going around the tip of South America.
Ms Mouynes said she was also in Singapore to discuss possible collaboration on sustainability.
"Panama is one of three carbon-negative countries in the world - including Suriname and Bhutan - which means that we emit less carbon than our forests capture," she said.
"Seeing that Singapore is now very focused on sustainability means that we can both promote greener investment and the blue carbon market."
Blue carbon refers to coastal ecosystems such as mangroves that absorb carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas.
She added that on her visit to ITE, she saw that the school had incorporated sustainability into its curriculum, which is what Panama is looking to do as well.
