87 South Sudanese students sponsored by the Malaysian oil company Petronas have graduated as production operators and technicians.

The 87 trainees received their certificates yesterday at the New Sudan Palace Hotel after an eight month training in Malaysia organized by Petronas and the ministry of petroleum.

They are the first batch of graduates in a training program which began in 2012 as part of the memorandum of understanding between the petroleum ministry and Petronas in order to promote and develop the knowledge and skills of South Sudanese workers in the oil and gas sector.

Speaking on Monday at New Sudan Palace, petroleum minister Dak Duop Bishok said one of the objectives is to equip South Sudanese nationals with foreign knowledge and technical skills in order to move the country forward.

Duop urged the new trainees to remain patient as they gradually replace foreign workers. “Our time for self-reliance will come today," he said. "We are still in need of some foreign expertise until such a time when we are totally in peace and well prepared for complete take over."

The minister further urged the partners to continue with training of the second batch of production operators and technicians in order to develop the capacity of all South Sudanese in the petroleum sector. 

A Petronas representative urged the first batch of graduates to demonstrate their skills for the welfare of the people of South Sudan. He said Petronas is ready to continue training people in different sectors in the future.

Philip Madut, representative of the new technicians, thanked the ministry and Petronas for giving them the opportunity to attend training. He said that the training will add more in their performance in the oil fields.