JICA opens agri-business, tourism training in Okinawa for young Filipinos

This is a press release from The Japan International Cooperation Agency.

MANILA, Philippines – The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) announced it is opening slots for young Filipinos to study agri-business and agri-tourism in Japan to help the Philippines develop its human resources and sustain its recent economic gains. 
 
The initiative is part of JICA’s Knowledge Co-Creation Program (KCCP) Young Leaders that aims to share Japan’s knowledge and expertise to partner countries, and encourage
participation of young people in nation building. 
 
“The Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2017-2022 emphasizes agriculture and tourism as among the key drivers to sustain the Philippines’ economic growth. Through the training, we’d like to share Japan’s successes and failures so young professionals can learn from our development experience and apply it to their respective fields,” said Aya Kano, JICA Senior Representative. 
 
The training course will run from February 7-23, 2019, and application is open until October 31, 2018. 
 
The training is open to young Filipino professionals in government, farmers’ cooperatives,
entrepreneurs, and those engaged in the promotion of fishing and agrarian villages. 
 
“I observed that most programs in Japan have strong public-private partnership so I am helping improve community engagement and linkages in our community so that programs and policies will be sustainable,” said Jefferson Panaligan, a former KCCP Young Leaders participant who is working with the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) Dam and Reservoir Division in Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija.
 
JICA added that the KCCP Young Leaders is an opportunity for young people to build their capacity in their respective development field and contribute to the Philippines’ poverty alleviation efforts. 
 
A study of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that about 60% of the country’s workforce is young with an age range of 15-34 years old. This means they have strong potential that can be tapped to affect development. 
 
JICA’s Young Leaders training program has benefited about 3,000 young Filipinos as of 2017.
 
More details about the program are available here. – Rappler.com