Upper Bavaria's best apprentice in a Chamber of Industry and Commerce occupation comes from Munich

In his exam for becoming a sales assistant, Martin Johannes Petersen achieved 99.0 points. The 24-year-old thus made it to top rank amongst all graduates of the winter examinations 2012/13 as well as of the summer examination 2013, which were awarded by the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) for Munich and Upper Bavaria during a festive event on the Zugspitze. Martin Johannes Petersen has trained for his occupation at the Agip Service Station Christian Smerber in Munich.

In total, some 19,000 candidates entered into the final examinations in 176 different occupations. About 91 per cent of participants successfully completed their apprenticeship; however, only 115 graduates achieved an overall grade of "very good" and thus the best examination in their vocational education and training profession.

"With your excellent achievements you have proven that - in spite of all examination pressure - you are capable of successfully asserting yourself with your acquired knowledge and skills", emphasised IHK Vice President Gerhard Lutz during the festive event on the Zugspitze.

He added that the successful apprentices thus have also demonstrated that they know what is important in professional life: "Working with perseverance and diligence to achieve a goal", said the IHK Vice President, when awarding the honorary certificates to the best apprenticeship graduates.

In his official speech, Lutz said that against the background of global competition, the economy is increasingly dependent on well-trained skilled personnel. The competence and performance capability of employees determine the success of businesses, underlined the IHK Vice President.