British construction giant Balfour Beatty will put up an engineering school and training center to enable hundreds of Filipino engineers and workers to upgrade their skills and capabilities to world-class standards.
The British Embassy in Manila said the company’s investment in the Philippines exemplifies its consistently shown confidence in Filipino workers over the past 15 years.
The P300-million project recently broke ground at the Carmelray Industrial Park II in Calamba, Laguna.
The company will be shouldering the costs of educating and training hundreds of Filipinos, giving priority to disadvantaged communities such as the Aetas of Central and Northern Luzon, and orphans of violence — particularly the children of police and military personnel who were killed in the line of duty.
British Charge d’Affaires Colin Crorkin emphasized the United Kingdom’s desire to bring tangible skills and knowledge that would improve the Filipino workers’ competitiveness and secure a healthy environment for the Philippines to develop a realistic and viable industrial strategy.
“Balfour Beatty’s investment will make a difference for the Philippines over the long term — in this case the training of Filipinos in engineering and the sciences at their own cost,” Crorkin said.
The center will provide training that marches in step with the demands of global engineering and construction. Engineering graduates will be trained as overhead line engineers, while Filipino high school graduates will be trained to become skilled linesmen capable of managing overhead transmission lines combined with state-of-the-art safety practices.
Participants will enjoy an added dividend — the chance to work in Balfour Beatty’s in-house projects around the world after graduation.
Balfour Beatty said expects to train and qualify 750 graduates over the next five years.
Balfour Beatty Group Ltd. Philippine Branch office will also be housed in the complex.
“By providing a center of learning that will produce around 750 graduates over a five-year period, the multiplier effect will be significant. Producing highly skilled engineering graduates, using the latest technologies, creates a pool of talent that is both sought after and mobile,” Crorkin said. “The opportunity for literally hundreds of families — that is thousands of individuals — to prosper and achieve as a result of Balfour Beatty’s investment is clearly evident.”