The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with SkillsFuture Singapore to cooperate on human capital development as well as the reskilling and skills upgrading of workforce.
The Philippines, through this MOU, seeks to partner with the Singaporean government and training institutions in order to improve the preparedness of the Filipinos for the needs of industry and the demands of the global market, particularly in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Partnering for the future of work
As reported, human capital and skills development are key pillars of the Philippines’ Inclusive Innovation Industrial Strategy (i3S) and a major element of the Inclusive Filipinnovation and Entrepreneurship Roadmap.
In Singapore, SkillsFuture promotes a culture of lifelong learning and strengthens the city-state’s ecosystem of quality education and training through various skills frameworks.
This forms part of the country’s industry transformation maps.
Singapore’s experience in industry and workforce development exemplifies the strong coordination between and among government, industry, training and the education sector.
This is what the Philippines aims to foster in the country as they address skills mismatch and prepare the workers for future production.
The Memorandum of Understanding involves several areas of cooperation. These are:
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- Human capital development knowledge-sharing
- Workforce capacity-building
- Conducting relevant studies towards crafting a comprehensive human capital development and skills training cooperation roadmap.
The MOU was signed during the state visit of Singapore President Halimah Yacob, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of bilateral relations between the Philippines and Singapore.
The DTI is responsible for realising the country’s goal of globally competitive and innovative industry and services sector that contribute to inclusive growth and employment generation.
TESDA, on the other hand, provides direction, policies, programs and standards towards quality technical education and skills development.
Partnering for personal data protection and cross border data flows
Another MOU signed during the visit focuses on personal data protection and cross border data flows.
As reported, the Philippines and Singapore agreed to share best practices in personal data protection and develop compatible mechanisms to facilitate trusted cross border data flows.
This includes the mutual recognition of comparable protection afforded by their respective laws to safeguard both Philippines and Singapore citizens.
The MOU was signed by National Privacy Commission (NPC) Commissioner Raymund Enriquez Liboro and Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) Commissioner Tan Kiat How.
The document marks the first data protection-related MOU signed between the two ASEAN member states.
In the MOU, both countries have committed to cooperate in the areas of mutual exchange of information and joint enforcement actions.
According to Privacy Commissioner Liboro, this collaboration would further ensure that the Philippines and Singapore would continue to strengthen its partnership when it comes to data protection.
He explained that with the signing of the MOU, the Philippines and Singapore envision exchanges of information and best practices to foster innovation.
The two countries will also work on mutual assistance in data privacy enforcement.
PDPC Commissioner Tan, for his part, explained that the MOU signals Singapore’s continued strong partnership with the Philippines as a collaboration partner.
He added that Singapore is pleased to continue fostering closer collaborations with partners such as the Philippines to drive a robust data protection regime crucial to promoting and safeguarding cross border data flows that are the lifeblood of the digital economy.
Their work will include developing mechanisms to facilitate cross-border data flow, such as the APEC Cross-Border Privacy Rules and ASEAN Cross-Border Data Flows Mechanism, and best practices to enable data innovation, through the use of data sharing sandboxes.
OpenGov Asia reported on Data Protection and STEM among 8 MOUs signed by the Philippines and Singapore.
The eight MoUs represent the first steps toward a natural, mutually reinforcing and beneficial partnership for the Philippines and Singapore.