The Philippines hopes to increase the proportion of industries adopting to advance manufacturing technologies to remain competitive.
Two separate surveys showed adoption to advance technologies remain low in the country.
Dan Lachica, chief of party of the AmDev (Advanced Manufacturing Workforce Development Alliance) Program, in a forum organized by the Makati Business Club yesterday, said there is a need to improve the quality of education and training to make it easier for workers to transition to new jobs and for manufacturing companies to adopt more technologies to stay competitive in the global economy.
Citing findings of a survey, Lachica said only five to 15 percent of the respondents are in advanced manufacturing or have some form of advanced manufacturing capabilities.
Most of the skills and competencies of companies are basic and not advanced, according to the survey.
The survey covered 500 companies in the manufacturing sector and had 228 respondents.
Rafaela Aldaba, undersecretary of the Department of Trade and Industry
said a survey conducted by the agency on Industry 4.0 showed over 70 percent of interviewed across the different manufacturing sectors are still utilizing low levels of technology.
Aldaba said these are mostly large companies, exporters, or firms with foreign direct investments that are located in urban areas.
In his remarks, Lachica called on all stakeholders to take action to address the challenges facing the advanced manufacturing environment to the private sector.
“Work with your local schools and universities to improve the quality of education and training for advanced manufacturing jobs. To the government let us work together to support the development of an enabling environment to encourage more companies to invest in workforce development,” Lachica said.
An outcome of the survey validated observations that funding by Philippine firms for training and skills development is quite low.
The survey added while tax incentives and scholarships would help, a sustainable financing model should be considered .
Legislation that support industry in provision of education and training will also help. An example is the apprenticeship bill that encourages greater government and industry participation in apprenticeship programs.
Another is the Tatak Pinoy bill which promotes unique Filipino products made with innovative processes. Irma Isip
