Day: June 28, 2023

About 3,000 applicants trooped to the Department of Migrant Workers’ (DMW) first seafarers job fair held at its main office in Mandaluyong on Wednesday. A total of 1,500 posts were offered during the event held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in coordination with the Department of Labor and Employment. In a Laging Handa public briefing, DMW Undersecretary Hans Leo Cacdac said 27 manning agencies participated during the job fair. Cacdac said DMW Secretary Susan Ople made the directive to hold a special job fair, particularly for those who wanted to work in the seafaring industry. He said the activity gave the aspirant seafarers an easier way to find legitimate manning agencies. ‘Alam ninyo ay tanyag tayo sa buong daigdig bilang tinatawag na (Our country is known globally as) a country with a labor-sending responsibility, labor supplying responsibility under the Maritime Labor Convention,’ he said. DMW data shows that the country has deployed a total of 482,393 seafarers in 2018; 507,730 in 2019; 217,223 in 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic; 345,517 in 2021; and 385,239 in 2022. Cacdac said the DMW is hoping the country would be able to get back in terms of the number of deployed seafarers abroad. ‘Nakikita natin na in so far as seafarers are concerned, of course gawa din ito ng pagnonormalisa na ng kalakalan, paglalayag ng mga trading vessel, container ships, cruise lines/cruise ships worldwide so nakikita na natin ang pagnormalisa ng shipping sector including the cruise ship sector all around the world. At bahagi niyan iyong panunumbalik sa trabaho ng mga dekalidad nating mga marino (We can see that in so far as the seafarers are concerned, and as the economy and trading normalizes, and so are the trading vessels, container ships, cruise lines, cruise ships worldwide, we see the shipping sector also normalize around the world. It also signals the return to the work of our qualified seafarers),’ he said. Cacdac reminded aspiring seafarers to always make sure that they were applying through legitimate recruitment agencies, and not entertain recruiters who want to interview the applicants outside their own office. He said the list of accredited and licensed manning agencies can be found on the DMW website dmw.gov.ph. ‘Maraming mga simpleng indikasyon kung ang isang agency ay legal: Una, may opisina kung saan may signage, nandoon iyong kanilang DMW license number (There are many indications that an agency is legal, first, they should have an office with a signage and with their DMW license number indicated),’ he said.

Source: Philippines News Agency

The local government of this capital city is planning to revamp its early warning system (EWS) against flooding now that the rainy season has started. City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officer (CDRRMO) Allen Cabaron said on Wednesday the early warning system devices that monitor the water level at the Banica River have already deteriorated over time. ‘We need to revive our EWS and we have a budget for that,’ he said adding that they will soon hold a bidding process for the procurement of the early warning system devices. He said the city has set aside some PHP 2.5 million for the early warning system project. ‘Three suppliers are needed for the bidding process and we are still looking for two others as we have only identified one here,’ Cabaron said. The EWS devices are found in many areas along the Banica River in this capital and one in Barangay Apolong in nearby Valencia town, where a repeater is installed. The project was implemented several years ago through the German International Cooperation. Cabaron lamented that during an inspection, they discovered that some of the EWS equipment were also stolen. Early warning system is being put in place by local government units to enable communities to respond to warning messages appropriately and quickly during weather disturbances and other calamitie

Source: Philippines News Agency

The 2023 Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Media Summit was held in Beijing, China on Tuesday under the theme “Promoting People-to-people Bond for Better Shared Future “.

Lancang – Mekong Cooperation Media Summit is the sub-regional cooperation mechanism that was jointly established in 2016 by six Mekong countries namely China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

Over 130 representatives from relevant departments and mainstream media of the six Lancang-Mekong countries attended the event, according to Xinhua.

Delivering remarks at the meeting, Mr. Li Shulei, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, called on the participants to support media and their exchange of lessons and experiences.

The participants had in-depth discussions on achieving peace and development, mutual benefit, win-win outcomes, and people-to-people exchanges in the region, and on contributing to the building of a closer Lancang-Mekong community with a shared future.

They shared the view that concrete benefits have been delivered to the six participating countries since the LMC’s inception, and the LMC has effectively boosted amity among people of the six countries.

They noted that there is massive potential for cooperation among the six countries in areas of infrastructure construction, agriculture, poverty reduction, security, and environmental protection.

They expressed their hope to promote exchanges among the people of the six countries through media cooperation, enhance friendship and mutual trust, and better tell Lancang-Mekong stories.

Head of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party Central Committee Propaganda and Training Board Vanxay Tavinyane said that Lancang – Mekong cooperation has contributed to socio-economic development in region including 36 development and poverty reduction projects implemented in the Lao PDR.

President of the Lao Journalists Association Savankhone Razmountry urged the participants to attach attention to promote the development of connectivity infrastructure, people to people exchange, economic cooperation, and foreign direct investment.

He noted that China plays an important role in turning landlocked Laos into a land-linked country through building a high speed railway connecting Vientiane of Laos with Kunming of China’s Yunnan.

The railway, the flagship project of China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, is also designed to connect Laos with Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

Source: Lao News Agency

Members of the National Assembly have asked the government to take tougher measures against rising exchange rates and better promote public use of national currency (kip).

At the ongoing 5th Ordinary Session of the National Assembly’s 9th legislature on Tuesday, Mr. Sathabandith Insisiengmai, member of the National Assembly for Huaphan provincial constituency, called on the government to attach attention to addressing inflation and asked the Bank of the Lao PDR to make greater efforts to promote the use of the national currency (kip).

“According to the survey conducted by a trade institute in 2023, 70% of small and medium enterprises agreed to increase the monthly minimum wage to 1.8 – 2 million kip so as to ensure workers have enough money to sustain their cost of living,” he added.

A couple months ago, the government issued a notice ordering the nationwide closure of currency exchange shops.

Mr Vorasith Sivongda, NA member for Savannakhet provincial constituency, proposed the government to better promote domestic production to reduce imports.

The year-on-year inflation rate in Laos has decreased slightly from 41.26 % in February, to 40.97 % in March, 39.89 % in April and 38.86 % in May, according to the Lao Statistics Bureau.

As of June 2023, the cost of food and non-alcoholic drinks has risen by 42.73 % year-on-year, as the cost of the hotel and restaurant sector has increased by 28.78 % and medical care and medicines has jumped by 25.09 %.

The cost of clothing and footwear has increased by 24.60 % and that of household utensils has been up by 23.94 %.

The depreciation of Kip against hard currencies is one of main factors that drive inflation in the country, posing a challenge for the Lao government to curb the rising cost of living.

Source: Lao News Agency