Employees of BAT Sacheon Factory pose during the graduation ceremony of the Technical Growth Academy held at Gyeongsang National University in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, on Wednesday. Courtesy of BAT Group

By Kim Jae-heun

British American Tobacco (BAT) Korea Manufacturing, also known as BAT Sacheon Factory, successfully finished its employee training program in collaboration with Gyeongsang National University (GNU), Wednesday.

BAT Sacheon Factory has been operating its Technical Growth Academy (TGA) with GNU to cultivate technicians since last year. The graduation ceremony was held at the university's Jinnong Hall, located in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province.

TGA is a joint training system organized with GNU designed to raise the competency of BAT's technical operators and develop their managerial skills. Last year, BAT Sacheon Factory selected six qualified employees to receive systematic training in industrial technology, foreign languages, leadership and Microsoft Office User Specialist (MoS) courses for six months.

Kim Ji-hyong, BAT Sacheon Factory's head of manufacturing, participated in the TGA graduation ceremony on the day, along with Oh Seok-gyu, the head of GNU's Leaders in Industry-University Cooperation Plus (LINC) Program. BAT Sacheon Factory donated 15 million won ($13,474) to the university's development fund.

"I am very pleased with the successful outcome of BAT's cooperation with GNU to bolster talent development among our technical employees. I hope our employees who participated in the education program will become promising managers to lead BAT Sacheon Factory in the future," Kim said.

Earlier this month, BAT Sacheon Factory signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate with GNU's Research Institute Future Applied Technology in the area of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG).

BAT and GNU have been working together to promote technological innovation and local skill exchanges. BAT plans to expand its investments in the environmental category using the institute as a platform.

BAT Group is a multinational consumer goods company, founded in 1902. It runs businesses in 180 countries around the world and leads markets in more than 50 nations. BAT Group has set the goals of going carbon-neutral and securing 50 million consumers of non-combustible products by 2030.