The Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam held a Year-end function at the Jen Hotel which presented a few Vietnamese companies wanting to do business in the Philippines on 17 Dec. 2015.  PAGASA’s (L-R) Fred Gravador, Steven Cua and Desmond Chua had a picture taken with his Excellency the Ambassador of Vietnam (2R) while Edna Ontiveros (3R) joined in when a picture was taken with Vietnamese Commercial Counselor Ms. Vu Viet Nga (3L) and Vietnamese Trade Delegation intending to do business in our shores.

On Dec. 4, 2015, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) organized a Business Matching Session at the Manila Hotel bringing in a Trade Mission featuring food and non-food products. PAGASA’s STC attended and tried a few of the food delicacies offered to the local market.

The Phil. Business for Education (PBEd) gives a Public Presentation of the Findings of its 3-year Project on Higher Education (HEPP) on 4 Dec. 2015 at the Tower Club in Makati. As it wraps up this USAID-funded Project, main contributors like PAGASA were invited to view the summary of findings as presented in one of the slides pictured.  It showed that industry and the academe must partner and communicate constantly to produce productive graduates relevant to the needs of industry on the national as well as local levels. One of the major accomplishments of this project was the ability to pull together the different associations representing the private schools, the state colleges/universities and its local counterpart. It was also able to show the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) the mismatch between courses of graduates and the qualifications needed by trade/industry and the lack of honing of life skills/communication skills in our school curriculum needed to churn out