OREANDA-NEWS. Toyota Tsusho Corporation announces that Group company Toyota Kenya Limited held an opening ceremony for its human resources training center, Toyota Kenya Academy, on July 16, 2014 at the Toyota Kenya Business Park (total area of 60,000m2) located three kilometers southeast of Nairobi.

The ceremony was attended by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, the Ambassador of Japan to Kenya Tatsushi Terada and other government dignitaries as well as Toyota Tsusho Chairman of the Board Junzo Shimizu, Toyota Kenya Chairman Dennis Awori, Toyota Kenya Representative Director Sachio Yotsukura and other business representatives.

Kenya is aiming to enhance the international competitiveness of its workforce. The country's long-term strategic vision, VISION 2030, includes the goal of developing a globally competitive and adaptive human resources base. While the Kenyan government operates technical colleges to provide work training for engineers, the creation of the further education opportunity appropriate to the real on-site needs is necessary.

Toyota Tsusho has operated an automotive training center at Toyota Kenya to nurture its own technical staff. The training center has been relocated, expanded and now reopened as the Toyota Kenya Academy to offer courses to the general public as well as company employees.

Toyota Kenya Academy plans to offer public courses from October 2014. In addition to the technical automotive training and managerial staff development provided in the past, the academy will nurture engineers for construction equipment, agricultural equipment and other areas outside the automotive field. The academy will also collaborate with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Kenyan universities and government organizations to provide business management courses.

By offering courses for entrepreneurs and other businesspeople, the academy will seek to build an educational system that meets a diverse range of needs and continually develops human resources to support Kenya's future.