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January 15, 2010

1. Buyers abroad regain taste for RP pineapple; lose appetite for tuna and furniture

Philippine pineapple pulled off a pleasant surprise by staging a remarkable 15.1 percent growth last November, the highest growth rate in single month among about 30 different commodities sold by the country to the global marketplace.

The growth was reflected from revenues of $20.36 million, the highest performing product on a year-on-year basis among top 10 exports.

Its performance is one of a few resilient in the food and resource-based exports of the country that have been slightly scathed by the lingering trade slowdown spawned by a global recession.

Pineapple, mostly from Davao and nearby provinces, teamed with electronics products, metal parts and other manufactured goods in staging the first major rebound of the export sector after suffering and average of 15 percent ebb a month from October of 2008, the month the global economic tsunami hit Philippine exports.

Tuna products, both fresh, frozen and processed, also pulled off a new surprise on the negative side. After proving its tenacity by growing for 12 consecutive months while most other products were showing double-digit retreat in sales, tuna exports in November last year took a long dive of 38.5 percent.

Its winning streak recorded last year until last September has been broken.

Woodcraft and furniture, which, together with tuna and fine jewelry, were the last three Philippine products that defied gravity in the first 12 months of the export crisis, also joined last November's losers, losing by 11.8 percent compared to sales in November 2008. -- Abe P. Belena, PHILEXPORT News and Features <--back

2. RP advised to adapt training programs fit global labor needs

The Philippines, considered one of the largest labor-sending countries in the world, has been advised to tailor training programs to receiving economies’ labor needs so more Filipinos qualify for professional and skills jobs available in some Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)-member countries.

This recommendation was made by a report titled “Facilitating Temporary Labor Mobility within APEC Region: Opportunities and Challenges” undertaken by an MBA Team from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business.

The study commissioned by the Apec Business Advisory Council (ABAC) cited the United States needing 500,000 nurses by 2025 while Japan also 500,000 nurses by 2014.

Likewise, US and Canada need 36 million skilled workers now, while Russia is short of 25 million workers.

“Real shortages of skilled and lower-skilled workers exist in many APEC economies, even during this recessionary period. And these labor shortages and imbalances of skills and jobs are predicted to become increasingly critical because of the changing demographics of aging populations,” it noted.

The study blamed mainly the problem to high recruitment fees and travel logistics costs for businesses and workers, lack of adequate governance labor recruitment/placement agencies and foreign employers, and lack of mutual recognition of workers’ qualifications and credentials.

With this, it urged the Philippines to partner with worker-receiving economies to better determine their labor needs. “Address receiving economies’ concerns on your end. Understand their labor needs; use skills mapping/skills shortage lists.”

To bridge this gap, Doris Magsaysay Ho, member of ABAC Philippines, in a forum raised the need for school curriculum meet global standards.

Ho said local businesses could play a great role in defining this goal.

One forum participant commented that the country send talents abroad with experience so more economies accept Filipino workers.

To also encourage regional approach to the problem, the ABAC study urged APEC members to use its influence to encourage government agencies, industry associations, employers and educational and training institutions across economies “to begin seriously addressing the issue of mutual recognition and verification of worker qualifications and credentials”. -- Danielle Venz, PHILEXPORT News and Features <--back

3. Analysts suggest revival of local industries to help upgrade labor quality needed by global employers

Policy analysts are one in saying that revitalizing the local industries is crucial for the country to fully take advantage of the growing global demand for labor.

The imperative to reinvigorate local industries to profit from the global demand for labor reverberated throughout the stakeholders’ discussion on the findings of the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business regarding labor market challenges in the Asia-Pacific region.

The 11-member team was commissioned by the APEC Business Advisory Council to examine the competitive challenges faced by APEC member countries as a result of the chronic rigidities in the international movement of workers.

The study shows that lack of training infrastructure alongside restrictive border security policies and high rates of worker placement fees are key hurdles for developing countries to fill in the job vacancies in developed economies.

Lito Soriano of LBS Recruitment Solutions could not agree more with the results of the study. According to Soriano, the Philippines has not been able to fill in the employment needs abroad due to lack of qualified workers and inadequate training infrastructure that would allow workers to qualify for technical jobs overseas.

The country has failed to send out new batches of seamen for lack of training facilities to prepare new college graduates to qualify for jobs abroad, he noted.

Soriano likewise mentioned that while the country supplies more than 20 percent of seamen in international passenger and cargo vessels, these Filipino seafarers are still the same people who were just renewing their contracts.

The same can be said of Filipino nurses.

Soriano revealed that only 288 Filipino nurses have been deployed last year when 10,000 nurses are needed in the U.S. alone and there are 200,000 licensed Filipino nurses in the country.

The figures churned out by Soriano did not surprise Ms. Doris Magsaysay Ho of ABAC Philippines and head of the Magsaysay shipping fleet.

You cannot expect the country to produce highly qualified workers when its manufacturing sector is hollowing out, Ms. Ho opined.

What we need to do is to strengthen industrial competitiveness and tune up the quality of our education for global standards, she added.

Ho stressed that the government should aggressively promote collaborative arrangements between the local industries and academic institutions to better align qualifications of graduates to industry needs.

This will lay the groundwork for creating globally competitive industries and workforce that will make the country an important player in the global market, she further noted.

To facilitate these efforts, Dr. Rene Ofreneo, former Dean of the University of the Philippines School of Labor and Industrial Relations (UP-SOLAIR), opined that the country will have to slowdown its trade liberalization efforts in goods and push for greater international labor mobility.

Said study indicates that of 42 FTAs signed by APEC member economies, 10 of them have no chapter on labor mobility, and while 28 of these FTAs contain provisions on the movement of business or natural persons, only seven of them have labor chapters.

It likewise noted that there is an immediate need for some 36 million skilled workers in the US and Canada, and 25 million workers in Russia. -- Ritchie Alburo, PHILEXPORT News and Features <--back