USAID, through Unilab Foundation, inks agreement with IGFI for AMDEV program
THE United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through Unilab Foundation, has inked an agreement with the ICCP Group Foundation Inc. (IGFI) as one of the core partners for USAID’S Advanced Manufacturing Workforce Development (AMDEV) Program.
According to a news statement released by the IGFI on Monday, “the five-year AMDEV Program seeks to create a highly skilled and adaptive work force that meets the evolving requirements of the high-tech manufacturing sector.”
The program was among the initiatives announced during the recent state visit of United States Vice President Kamala D. Harris, said IGFI.
IGFI said the project aims to strengthen the work force through the development of an industry-led technical education system with “betterdefined, harmonized skills” as well as qualifications descriptors and competency and training standards.
Under the memorandum of agreement (MOA) signed between IGFI and USAID, IGFI shall be part of the overall implementation of the project as a member of the Advanced Manufacturing Skills Council (AMSC), which will be established under the project.
IGFI said the council would spearhead the effort to define and harmonize standards and qualifications for the work force and identify strategic priorities. Moreover, the AMSC will have three core functions: human capital development; policy, research and advocacy; and stakeholder engagement among government, industry, and education sectors.
Specifically, IGFI shall lead in the skills gap and training needs analysis through the conduct of surveys with locators within industrial zones towards the development of a competency framework for the advanced manufacturing work force.
IGFI said it would also be part of the delivery of training curriculum for the existing and incoming work force from partner companies and schools. The foundation said the AMDEV program is ongoing and will run through September 2027.
IGFI is the social development arm of the ICCP Group, a diversified conglomerate engaged primarily in three main lines of business: financial services, property development and exhibition hall management.
The conglomerate owns and operates Science Park of the Philippines, Inc. (SPPI), one of the “pioneers and largest private developers” of Economic Zones in the country with an aggregate area of about 860 hectares.
SPPI owns, develops, and operates ecozone estates in Cabuyao and Calamba, Laguna; Sto. Tomas and Malvar, Batangas; Hermosa, Bataan; and Lapu-lapu City, Cebu.
The ecozone operator said its locators include companies from diverse nationalities and business sectors.
Most of the firms are Filipino, Japanese, American, Australian, and European, including major multinational companies and several Fortune 500 companies.