Sun.Star: Japan agencies pour in P10-M for Mindanao IT center

The Japan External Trade Organization and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan have poured in a total of P10 million for the establishment and operation of the PhilNits IT Business Center in Mindanao. Toru Nakayama, director of the Technical Cooperation Division of Meti, said PhilNits IT Business Center in Mindanao is a bit expanded compared to that of the existing PhilNits centers in Luzon and Visayas. The center is the third one which Meti was funded in the country -- one is located in Manila and the other in Cebu. The center was formally inaugurated by the PhilNits Foundation Inc., the Jetro, Meti of Japan, and the Department of Trade and Industry at the Royal Mandaya Hotel on Tuesday. It serves as a venue to improve the competitiveness of businessmen in terms of information technology. Also, the center would serve as an IT-enabling facility for Mindanao's micro, small and medium enterprises to improve their competitiveness in the global market. The center, which is located at the 5th Level of the DTI-Southern Mindanao Building on Monteverde Street, Davao City, also provides productivity tools, entrepreneurship program, and skills training. Yasutomi Ota, the executive director of Jetro in Manila, said the budget spent for the skills training and other programs of the PhilNits centers in Manila had increased, but did not mention how much was added to the budget for these trainings. Ma. Corazon Akol, president of th PhilNits Foundation Inc., said the center will promote the PhilNits certification program in the Mindanao area. She said the program can help generate employment for PhilNits certified professionals in Japanese companies, both based in the Philippines and Japan. "The demand in Japan for IT professionals is around 50,000. PhilNits Foundation targets half of the demand. For Davao, I project to have a thousand of IT examinees per year," Akol said. On the other hand, DTI-Southern Mindanao assistant secretary Merly M. Cruz said individuals in Davao City who are trained to be IT professionals are at par if not better than those in Manila and in Cebu. She said with the establishment of the PhilNits IT Business Center in Mindanao, individuals will be trained better to become IT professionals. - Sun.Star