Japan asked to allow Pinoy IT workers to stay longer

Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas II recently asked the Japanese Ministry of Justice to allow Filipino information technology workers to be able to stay up to three years in Japan while in training, instead of the current limitation of just one year.

Roxas was recently in Japan for a series of meetings with top Japanese officials.

Roxas is negotiating with the Japanese government on behalf of Filipino IT workers who are training in Japan.

The DTI Secretary noted that the Japanese Immigration normally allows Indian IT workers to stay for as long as three years.

Filipino IT workers, on the other hand, are only allowed a one-year stay.

"A minimum three-year stay in Japan would give Filipino IT workers enough time to learn the latest IT technology available in Japan," Roxas said.

These Filipino IT workers, Roxas assured, would then be able to return to the Philippines, bringing with them the IT knowledge they need to perform the IT services that Japanese companies require here.

Roxas also met with his counterpart in the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) to discuss the need for a common content in IT education in the region.

Roxas explained to his Japanese counterpart that under the current practice, IT education in the region is quite varied.

"Clients or companies of the IT worker are not certain exactly what was the training acquired by the IT worker," Roxas said.

He noted that oftentime, the quality of certification is "uneven."

Roxas is batting for a standardized content of IT education in the region " so that there is an assurance that the IT skills content of the certification program for a Filipino, Malaysian, Indonesian or other ASEAN IT certified professional is similar."

A standardized IT education, Roxas said, would lead to an increased demand for ASEAN IT workers. – Marianne Go