Boracay, Aklan, Philippines —The SFI Group, in coordination with DOLE-BLE, shared valuable insights on the Philippine TalentMap© Initiative during the 37th APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Working Group Meeting held on May 14-17, 2015. Mr. Luis Alberto Anastacio, President and CEO of the SFI Group, led the Philippine delegation in presenting the initiative in one of the meetings of the APEC Human Resources Development Working Group (HRDWG) – Labor and Social Protection Network (LSPN).
Representatives from different member economies like Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, and the USA were present in the meeting together with delegates from the ILO and ABAC. During the sharing, it was noted that Malaysia and Australia were already implementing similar programs and as Mr. Anastacio emphasized, “The Philippine TalentMap© Initiative would help the workforce in examining its strengths and weaknesses, thereby creating relevant policies and responsive programs in developing a sustainable, inclusive and competitive talent pipeline for global economy. This presents an opportunity for creative collaboration among APEC economies though a multi-country workforce development project.”
The discussions in the LSPN meeting did not cover only labor trends and concerns, but also social protection and its linkages to employment. Another resource person from the Philippines representing the World Vision discussed a program called ABK3 LEAP, which stands for Livelihood, Education, Advocacy and Protection to Reduce Child Labor in Sugarcane Areas. The presentation was then followed by Chinese Taipei on Facilitating Human Resource Mobility through Social Protection. The state representatives from Australia, Malaysia, Russia, USA and Japan discussed similar concept notes and program details focusing on different themes, such as academic mobility, seasonal labor mobility, vocational training and the economic significance of women population. Mr. Malcom Greening and Ms. Katherine Brimon, Chair and Vice Chair of the HRDWG-LSPN Meeting facilitated the discussion among the delegates.
Hopes were high among all the senior official delegates that more programs and policies would be implemented by the APEC economies. In her welcome remarks, DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz enumerated her goals for the APEC Summit: (1) enhancing human resource quality to meet supply chain demands, (2) addressing social dimension of globalization, (3) facilitating mobility of labor and skills development, and (4) enhancing participation of women in economy. All in all, the meeting permitted the APEC economies to share knowledge on, and best practices in, investing in human capital and in building inclusive economies.
Other delegates from the SFI Group include Ms. Estrellita A. Anastacio – Chairman of the SFI Group of Companies, Ms. Vivian A. Guerrero – Treasurer of the SFI Group of Companies and COO of Temps and Staffers Inc., Ms. Heidelyn V. Concepcion – HRDA & Operations Group Head of Temps and Staffers Inc., Ms. Gina A. Jusay – Business Unit Head of the SFI Career Center, Ms. Patricia Margarita Z. Acepcion – BPO, RPO & Shared Services Recruitment Head of Businesstrends, a Kelly Services Company, and Mr. Richard P. Monteverde – Senior Career Coach of the SFI Career Center.