Singapore government agencies on Tuesday announced the establishment of a 52 million Singapore dollars (40 million U.S. dollars) fund to boost the development of its precision engineering sector.

    The Precision Engineering Vocational Continuing Education and Training project announced by the Economic Development Board and industry promotion agency SPRING Singapore will include a new master craftsmen program, with the goal of producing some 2,800 master craftsmen in 10 years.

    It will be open to those who've been in the industry for at least four years. Some of them will even have a chance to attend class at Nanyang Polytechnic and get a diploma. The companies will pay for the course.

    The agencies said the initiative is aimed to make precision engineering jobs more attractive, especially for the young.

    "Right now, there are many very skilled craftsmen in the precision engineering sector, but in order to increase the productivity in this industry, we need a new breed of people," said Ho Hooi Min, senior director of the School of Engineering in Manufacturing at Nanyang Polytechnic.

    The two-year course will begin in April next year.

(Source:Xinhua)