Cabinet officials take steps to improve investment climate

Bienvenido Laguesma —Photo from DOLE facebook page

Government officials are taking steps to prepare workers and local businesses to welcome investors who have pledged to invest in the country during President Marcos’ foreign trips.

Speaking at the Bagong Pilipinas program on state-owned RTVM on Saturday, Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said the agency was addressing jobs mismatch issues through the upskilling of Filipino workers.

This will ensure that the Philippines has a pool of well-educated and highly skilled workforce, adding that upskilling of workers must be industry-led as well as demand—and market-driven so that workers can find employment that suit their skills.

Laguesma said the Dole is prioritizing digitalization and the setting up of a labor information system.

“We have to have an effective labor information system [wherein] we will compare different regions [and] determine where are the available workers, so that we can help those who are looking for the ideal place to invest,” the secretary said.

Through digitalization, the Dole chief said, workers would have better opportunities in looking for jobs in the sectors they want to be employed.

He said that jobs mismatch issues could also be addressed by conducting jobs fair, with the Dole focusing on knowing the requirements of every industry to effectively address them.

The other program guests, Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual and Energy Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella, spoke about the importance of generating a good business climate to encourage foreign investors to fulfill their pledges to invest.

Pascual said the investors should experience ease in doing business in the country, adding, “We will make sure that the enabling environment is in order, those that need to be done quickly [such as] getting permits, licenses. Because if there are delays, our investors are turned off so we need to fix [those delays],” he said. INQ