SECRETARY Fortunato de la Peña of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and Ambassador Han Dong-man on Wednesday led the ground-breaking ceremony of the $6.3-million Mold Technology Support Center (MTSC) in Barangay Bacao, General Trias, Cavite.
Funded by the Republic of Korea via Official Development Assistance (ODA), the four-year program’s first phase involves the construction of a building that will house state-of-the-art equipment to be used in training and enhancing the skills of Filipinos in the latest die and mold technology.
The groundbreaking is an offshoot of a memorandum of agreement signed between the Philippines, Republic of Korea and other project partners, which include the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (Kiat) and Korea Association of Machinery Industry (Koami).
Also present during the event were Gi Tae Shim of Kiat, Hyeong Ki Choi, CEO and Executive Vice President of Koami, along with Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) Director General Charito B. Plaza, Board of Investments (BOI) Director Evariste M. Cagatan and PDMA Inc President Hector U. Villanueva.
The construction of the MTSC building is expected to be completed by June next year. By the end of next year, it is expected to start providing skills training in die and mold by that time, according to the DOST’s Metals Industry Research and Development Center (MIRDC), one of the MTSC project partners.
The Korean ambassador to the Philippines, in his brief message, said the ODA grant is in response to the Philippine government’s appeal for support when President Duterte visited South Korea last year and again early this year.
Funding the project through ODA, he said, is a good investment for Korea, noting that the Philippines has been a host to a good number of Korean companies.
“We have more than 2,000 Korean companies here in the Philippines,” he said.
He said the Republic of Korea is encouraging more Korean companies to invest while encouraging those that are already in the Philippines to expand business operations.
The Korean envoy said the Philippines and Korean companies can benefit from working together, which could help boost the economies of the Philippines and the Republic of Korea.
More important, he said undertaking the project, particularly in Cavite, is Korea’s way of strengthening economic cooperation and relationship with the Philippines.
In his speech, de la Peña said every year, the MIRDC conducts a survey of the metals, engineering and allied industries.
“Through these surveys, we are able to know what the local companies are facing—both challenges and successes. But admittedly, there are certain concerns that seem to pin our local companies down,” he said.
According to the DOST chief, a survey of the mold companies conducted by the DOST-MIRDC, in partnership with the Philippine Die and Mold Association, as part of the prefeasibility study of the MTSC project, showed the mold companies’ need for government intervention in terms of keeping a stable supply of trained manpower, technology upgrading and penetrating existing—and identifying potential— supply chain networks.
“The MTSC project was designed with these requirements of the mold industry in mind,” he said.
De la Peña said the Duterte administration does not limit its efforts to pursuing its vision but takes an active part in contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SGD 9—Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure, which aim to champion the advancement of the manufacturing sector—one of them is most important driver of economic development and employment.
“When the MTSC facility
is into
full-swing operations, we will see drastic changes in our ability to compete in
the global market and in our ability to make lives better for many of our
fellow Filipinos,” he said.
According to de la Peña, the DOST is implementing four of the 10-point agenda of Duterte: to increase competitiveness and the ease of doing business, promote rural and value chain development, invest in human capital development, and promote science and technology to enhance innovation.
“Through the MTSC facility, the local mold industry will have the opportunity to develop the most needed human resources, to contribute to the advancement of Philippine manufacturing, and contribute to the industrial cooperation between the Philippines and the Republic of Korea,” he said.
Interviewed by reporters, de la Peña said the die and mold industry should take advantage of the establishment of the MTSC.
“We need more skilled workers for the die and mod industry. We should have done this a long time ago,” he said. He thanked the Republic of Korea for the ODA and encouraged project partners to work together to sustain the gains of the partnership.
Villanueva, president of PDMA Inc. which will run and manage the MTSC, said the training center will be a big boost to the entire manufacturing sector.
“Without the die and mold industry, the manufacturing industry is nothing. The die and mold industry is the backbone of the manufacturing sector,” he said.
According to Villanueva, the MTSC is the second training center to be established. The first was in Bicutan, Taguig, which is being managed by the MIRDC.
He said with Korea’s funding support, the country’s die and mold industry will be on a par with other countries, like Korea itself, which is leading in terms of technology advancement and manpower development.
Under the first phase, which started in June this year until 2022, he expects to produce more than a thousand experts in die and mold engineering technology.
Right now, eight Filipino experts from the government and the private sector are currently enrolled in a 10-week trainer’s training in South Korea.
After the training, he said they will be conducting the training in the MTSC.