USAID, IGFI support manufacturing workforce development 

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through UNILAB Foundation, has signed a memorandum of agreement with the ICCP Group Foundation, Inc. (IGFI) as one of the core partners for the USAID’s Advanced Manufacturing Workforce Development (AMDev) Program.

The 5-year AMDev Program seeks to create a highly skilled and adaptive workforce 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.

The project aims to strengthen the workforce through the development of an industry-led technical education system with better-defined, harmonized skills as well as qualifications descriptors and competency and training standards.

Under the agreement, IGFI shall be part of the overall implementation of the project as a member of the Advanced Manufacturing Skills Council (ASMC) which will be established under the project.

The AMSC will lead the effort to define and harmonize standards and qualifications for the workforce and identify strategic priorities. It 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 workforce.

The Foundation will also be part of the delivery of training curriculum for the existing and incoming workforce from partner companies and schools. The 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 Group 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 companies are Filipino, Japanese, American, Australian, and European, including major multinational companies and several Fortune 500 companies.