Friday, August 29, 2008 Teach OFWs business skills: group to Owwa
A GROUP of professionals and businessmen have raised the need to equip overseas Filipino workers with “life skills” that will help them become entrepreneurs when they come back to the country for good.
In a forum with Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa) 7 Director Wilfreda Misterio, the Cebu alumni of the University of the Asia and Pacific (UA&P) said the government should help OFWs learn business skills so that they will continue to be a “positive factor” to the economy even after they stop working abroad.
The remittances of OFWs make a large contribution to the country’s economy. These remittances have strengthened the purchasing power of families of OFWs, which make up an attractive market for residential property development and retail businesses.
According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pili-pinas, OFWs sent about P1.45 billion in June 2008, or a total of P8.2 billion from January-June 2008, higher than the January-June 2007 figure of P7.03 billion.
Weak economy
UA&P alumnus Pert Cabataña said “a consumer-lead economy is a weak economy,” and that the government should instead help OFWs open up businesses and generate jobs here.
“We don’t know how much is used for capital building from OFW remittances,” he added.
For her part, Misterio said Owwa has developed an integration program that includes business awareness seminars for OFWs, especially those who are planning to retire from foreign work.
“We also provide them with investment options and help them link with financial institutions,” she said.
Misterio admitted, though, that it is sometimes difficult to encourage OFWs to go into business since their mind is not set on entrepreneurship.
Owwa, she said, also extends collateral-based loans to OFWs who want to put up their own businesses. Under the loan
program, an OFW can borrow up to P200,000 with an interest rate of nine percent per annum.
Owwa has also part-nered with some private companies that give wealth management seminars to OFWs, even before they are deployed to their work assignments abroad. (DME)
