IGFI partners with Unilab Foundation for workforce development program

MANILA, Philippines — The ICCP Group Foundation Inc. (IGFI) has signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Unilab Foundation for a manufacturing workforce development program of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

In a statement, IGFI said the partnership makes it one of the core partners for the USAID’s Advanced Manufacturing Workforce Development (AMDev) program.

The five-year AMDev program seeks to create a highly skilled and adaptive workforce that meets the evolving requirements of the high-tech manufacturing sector. It was among the initiatives announced during the recent state visit of United States Vice President Kamala 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.

Last year, the USAID awarded a $5 million grant to the Unilab Foundation to create a Global Development Alliance for Advanced Manufacturing.

Under the agreement, IGFI shall be part of the overall implementation of the AMDeV 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,”IGFI said.

In addition, IGFI 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 particularly 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.

Its locators include companies from various countries, most of which are Filipino, Japanese, American, Australian, and European, including major multinational companies and several Fortune 500 companies.