DOLE allots P2.97B to skills training ahead of ASEAN single market

The Department of Labor and Employment has earmarked P2.97 billion of its P8.12-billion budget for 2013 to skills training and retraining programs, to prepare the workforce for the ASEAN's integration into a single market in 2015. According to Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, the amount will be allocated to the Technical Educational Skills Development Authority (TESDA), which will handle the training “to breach [the] jobs and skills mismatch of the Filipino workforce.” TESDA will use the funds to increase the number of training programs to prepare workers for the industries that will be investing in the Philippines once integration occurs. “We anticipate problems when foreign industries enter the Philippines in time for the ASEAN economic integration,” said Baldoz in a year-end press briefing at the DOLE office in Manila. She said the department “ is preparing assistance to enterprises, specifically the micro, small and medium enterprises [MSMEs].” The ASEAN economic integration is expected to bring investments to the country, not just from member economies but from dialogue partners Japan, China, the US and the European Union. — BM, GMA News