Ladies and gentlemen, magandang umaga po sa inyong lahat.
Our country’s industries were already facing the disruptions brought about by the shift to the Fourth Industrial Revolution when the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 happened. In these situations, the ability to cope with the challenges and demands of the market with intellect and agility can dictate one’s economic future. The key lies in having a well- educated Filipino workforce with the right skill sets to drive the country’s growth trajectory.
As President Rodrigo Roa Duterte had said, our country can benefit from the opportunities for growth despite the pandemic by being innovative. To quote: “We are educated, creative, and resilient. Innovation is our big push. This will keep our country on the growth path for decades to come.”
In 2015, the Philippine Center for Print Excellence Foundation (PCPEF) heeded the call of the Board of Investments (BOI) in formulating an industry roadmap to help the government chart their industry’s growth. The Printing Industry Roadmap cited a number of goals: (1) enhancing supply capability; (2) increasing demand for print products and services; (3) encouraging collaboration among the players of the printing industry and its allied industries; and (4) providing a conducive business environment. Their Roadmap also pointed out the challenges—that there is a pervasive lack of formally-trained technical personnel with printing capabilities and expertise, particularly for machine operators and press mechanics.
While print may have diminished in value in the present digital era and the rise of digital marketing, printing is still seen as an important method of advertising, given how people still like and respect newspapers and magazines. Many people consider print advertisements to be credible, informative, and long lasting. Further, print is an important channel that increases reach and helps in spreading information, which is why many companies still print comprehensive brochures and colorful flyers to advertise their products.
Another thing we have to consider is that consumable goods and products need to be packed and compliant with labelling requirements. Whether food or non-food products, details of manufacturing, expiry, and batch number need to be printed in the packaging. In addition, product reputation is built through superior packaging material and flawless printing technology to complete the finished product.
Thus, we need to recognize the critical role that the printing industry plays in the economy and that we need to continually invest in human capital development and strengthen industry-government linkages. As such, a partnership among the BOI and PCPEF as well as the Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC) will support the upskilling and further development of the industry workforce. This, in turn, would deepen industrial capacities and help the industry cope with the current and emerging trends in the labor market.
It can be recalled that upskilling and reskilling of industry workforce is one of objectives of our National Employment Recovery Strategy (NERS) 2021-2022. This strategy involves an eight-point agenda that will create a policy environment that will help in the following: (1) encourage generation of more employment and entrepreneurship opportunities; and (2) improve the employability and productivity of workers while providing support to existing and emerging businesses.
This way, the country will be able to produce a more future-ready workforce that can thrive and stay relevant in the era of Industry 4.0. It will also aid in leveraging Filipino talents in order for the industry to benefit from the new opportunities created by Industry 4.0 and COVID-19 disruptions, as well as upgrade to high-value services to further drive the Philippine growth. More importantly, even as new employment opportunities are being created while other employment positions are displaced or replaced, it is high-time to pave the way for the development of a skilled, work-ready, and globally competitive workforce.
As we build back better in the post-pandemic future, we hope to address the present and future talent requirements of the country’s emerging industries. Through this memorandum of understanding (MOU) to be signed by stakeholders, we aim to develop a more relevant, responsive, resilient, and sustainable talent pipeline for the printing industry.
Ultimately, our young and educated population is our most important value proposition that makes the Philippines more attractive to foreign investors. Through a whole-of- society approach, we will work towards keeping that way.
Once again, we thank everyone for their attendance to today’s ceremony and we look forward to more convergent partnerships ahead.
Maraming salamat po at mabuhay tayong lahat! ♦
Date of Release: 9 August 2021