MANILA, 8 June 2023 – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) of the Republic of the Philippines, in collaboration with the ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC), hosted the ASEAN Project Development Training for Philippine government officials from 6 – 8 June in Manila.
Ambassador Hjayceelyn M. Quintana, Permanent Representative of the Philippines to ASEAN, emphasised in her remarks the importance of aligning initiatives in ASEAN to the ASEAN Community Blueprint 2025, the Post-2025 Vision, and the ASEAN Outlook for the Indo-Pacific. She encouraged participants to tap into the available resources from ASEAN Dialogue, Sectoral Dialogue, and Development Partners by developing good quality ASEAN cooperation projects through inter-agency collaboration that involves private sectors.
Ma. Cynthia C. Hernandez, Executive Director of Public-Private Partnership Centre, in her keynote address, encouraged participants to come up with regional high-quality and results-based project proposals aligned with the public interest. She likewise highlighted the importance of working closely with ASEAN sectoral bodies and ASEC in coming up with viable initiatives, which are responsive to the needs of the region.
In his opening remarks, Angelito Nayan, Deputy Assistant Secretary for ASEAN shared the importance of bridging the gap between theory into practice and translating ASEAN Community Vision from aspirational to developing projects with real outcomes.
The training workshop is a joint effort of the Permanent Mission of the Philippines to ASEAN and ASEC.
A total of 61 Philippine government officials from various ministries and agencies participated in the three-day training. Through presentations, exercises, and group work, they were briefed by ASEC staff on developing regional project proposals and managing ASEAN cooperation projects using a results-based management approach.
At the end of the training, participants developed and presented eight regional project proposal drafts on; (1) ASEAN Space Promotion and Capacity Enhancement and Integration Project (ASEAN-SPACE), (2) ASEAN Harmonisation of Air Transportation Standards and Recommended Practices (ASEAN-HATSARP) – Phase 1, (3) Strengthening and Sustaining the ASEAN Heritage Parks Programme: Ensuring Long-Term Success through Regional Action Plan Implementation, (4) Writeshop on the ASEAN Protocol for Migrants during Humanitarian Crises Situations, (5) Study and Documentation of Best Practices on Labour Mobility and Job Skills Matching in ASEAN, (6) Project ECO: Enhancing AMS’s national capacity for environmental surveillance in detecting and characterizing AMR and EREID pathogens to mitigate future biological threats, (7) Strengthening Youth Engagement in the Agriculture and Fishery Sector across ASEAN, and (8) Project for Enhancing Technology Adoption for MSME.
In their presentation, representatives from the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund Management Team explained their priorities and procedures to access the fund. The training concluded with a plenary session led by the representatives from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Finance, and Department of Trade and Industry of the Philippines, and ASEC. Assistant Secretary for International Finance, Neil Adrian S. Cabiles, discussed the domestic processes in receiving foreign grants and loans by Philippine government agencies.
Participants received a joint certificate from the Philippines and ASEC to mark their success in completing the course. The initiative is funded by the ASEAN Development Fund.
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