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By Katrina Mennen A. Valdez, Reporter
THE government of South Australia
is courting skilled Filipinos to migrate and work Down Under.
Kevin Foley, South Australia’s
deputy premier and minister for industry and trade, said his
government is putting on its radar the Philippines as a major source
of skilled workers to meet his country’s growing demand for such
talent.
“[We] just realized that the
Philippines remains untapped by Australia,” he said.
The Australian official said that
Filipinos are highly preferred due to their excellent communications
skills, a similar culture, and comparable competence with Australian
professionals.
“The objective is to promote
and strengthen cooperation between [South Australia], and the
Philippines on labor, employment and human resource development,”
he said.
Foley said his government has
seen the success of existing memoranda of understanding between the
Republic of the Philippines and three Canadian provinces that also
tap Filipino skilled workers. He said a similar agreement between
Manila and his government would open the doors to more employment
opportunities for Filipinos abroad.
“Thus it is not hard on the
employers’ part whenever [they] hire Filipinos, it is just that
[we] realized that only quite now,” he said.
The Australian official said that
a delegation headed by large companies in mining, information and
communication technology, manufacturing, electronics, food
preparation, healthcare, and real estate is coming to the
Philippines to scout for possible employees.
At present, the Philippines is
South Australia’s sixth largest source of settler arrivals, the
bulk of whom have helped ease the demand for trade skills at a time
when the island-continent is enjoying record low levels of
unemployment.
Foley said South Australia
expects 45-billion Australian dollars worth of investments in the
next five years.
About 5,000 Filipinos live in
South Australia, with many of them working as engineers, nurses,
information technology experts, and other professionals.
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