THE PHILIPPINES can meet growing global demand for workers in the offshore wind industry, the German Embassy in Manila said.
David Klebs, economic counselor at the German Embassy, said more broadly that expertise possessed by Philippine workers will be in higher demand worldwide.
“As you know, the Philippines is a nation of seafarers. And if you think about offshore wind, many of the skills used in constructing or maintaining offshore wind turbines are (transferable from shipboard jobs),” Mr. Klebs said in a briefing late Monday.
“There’s a bonus for the Philippines because it already has an advantage of being a seafaring nation. With some additional skills, workers here can do (offshore wind turbine) maintenance, which is in high demand worldwide,” he added.
He said the Philippines can also employ such workers once it builds its own offshore wind farms.
“If you look at the Philippine Energy Plan that the Department of Energy released in 2023, they are on the road to doing this, and they have identified humongous potential offshore wind capacity that is more than any energy currently produced in the Philippines,” he said.
“For offshore wind you do need the skills, the sets of tools and requirements, and by getting ready now you’ll be ready later for the future,” he added.
The German Embassy, in collaboration with the German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GPCCI), said that it will be hosting a sustainability forum on Jan. 31 that will focus on green infrastructure and green jobs.
“This forum represents an important step forward in addressing the most urgent challenges… The Philippines stands at a very critical juncture in its commitment to sustainability as reflected in its national development contribution under the Paris Agreement,” Marie Antoniette E. Mariano, president and chairman of the GPCCI, said.
Previously, the GPCCI, citing its World Business Outlook Survey, said businesses in the Philippines see efforts to meet sustainability requirements as a competitive advantage.
Yves Aguilos, head of government affairs and data protection officer at GPCCI, said that to tap this potential, the Philippines will have to look at green jobs and new technology.
“In order to explore this potential that we are seeing in the Philippines, we have gathered some experts here in the forum that will address which specific industries the Philippines can explore in terms of green jobs transformation and also identify some challenges,” Mr. Aguilos said.
“Sustainability comes with new technologies that would be introduced to the workforce. These are the things that we may have to inquire about, for example, with the Department of Labor, if they have a roadmap, and then also from industry experts,” he added. — Justine Irish D. Tabile