Dualtech Center joins Unilab and other Private Sectors for Advanced Manufacturing Program initiative

Dualtech Center joined various stakeholders from the industry and TESDA for Advanced Manufacturing Workforce Development Alliance (AMDev) program initiative in Amherst Laboratories, Inc. (ALI) in Biñan City on June 06, 2023. It is a five-year program supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by the Unilab Foundation (ULF) in partnership with model manufacturing companies, education institutions, research institutions, specialized non-profit organizations, and government agencies.

In the above meeting held in ALI’s facilities, UNILAB convened the representatives of the Laguna Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI), Dualtech Training Center Foundation, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and Unilab Foundation with the specific goal of identifying how the industry could help bridge the gap in the education system and the industry needs.

TESDA Regional Director Barun Lagran and TESDA Provincial Director Cariza Dacuma also discussed further the need to align the basic competency of the trainees to the demand of the industry. Through this collaboration in AMDev, the private sector will help the training institution to train its trainors and to provide another venue for trainees to learn the advanced manufacturing concept and the latest technology in the manufacturing sector.

With AMDev as the overall concept, USAID (together with Unilab Foundation) seeks to provide apprenticeships, immersion programs, and knowledge sharing to students and professors from colleges and universities surrounding manufacturing sites in the country. Eventually, the scheme aims to consolidate a highly-skilled and adaptive workforce that meets the evolving requirements of the advanced manufacturing sector.

As indicated in the USAID website, Ambassador MaryKay Carlson made the following remarks at AMDev’s launch ceremony last March 13 held at the Unilab Pharma Campus in Biñan, Laguna. “We hope that this private sector collaboration will allow the Philippines to advance to ‘high middle-income’ economic status and strengthen its ability to increase sustainable, inclusive, and transparent economic growth in the broader Indo-Pacific economic community.”

In the same website, the United States government (through AMDev) will contribute Php 311 million ($5.3 million) in development assistance while the other half of the project cost will be funded by private sector partners that include Unilab Foundation, Amherst Laboratories, Belmont Softgel Pharma, Fastech Advanced Assembly, Western Digital Philippines, Makati Business Club, and the Investment and Capital Corporation of the Philippines Group Foundation.