Egypt and the European Union have offered 2,000 Egyptian students training to become professional chefs as part of the country's efforts to enhance services amid a recent rise in tourist numbers, an official said.

The training, 'Chef of the Future,' is part of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme, which aims to enhance youth employability and improve the country's global competitiveness.

The EU has been closely working with the Egypt government since the early 2000s to provide technical assistance and support to enrich the country’s labour market, Shoroke Zedan, executive director at the TVET Egypt Programme, said during a conference on Wednesday that honoured the training's high achievers.

The 117 million-euro programme is co-financed by Egypt and the European Union until 2023, with the EU covering 50 million euros of the programme's total cost.

Zedan added that the programme focuses on enhancing the skills of technical students and improving education curricula to offer qualified a workforce who can compete in the international market and meet investors' needs.

"We are currently looking at how to quickly offer a workforce for investors putting money in Egypt," she said, adding that the programme adopts short curricula, running for six to eight months.

Egypt has been aiming to lure back tourists and investors who were scared off by the 2011 popular uprising.

The country's tourism industry, a key source of foreign currency, has been recovering in recent months.

Tourism revenues jumped 77 percent in the first half of 2018 to around $4.8 billion compared with the same period last year, a government official told Reuters in August.