On May 1, Minister Nakata Masahiro of the Embassy of Japan attended the signing of a memorandum of agreement for the project “Bringing Back Jobs Safely under the COVID-19 Crisis in the Philippines: Rebooting Small and Informal Businesses Safely and Digitally.” The ceremony was held during the 2022 TGER-NERS Job Summit Labor Day Celebration in San Fernando City, Pampanga.

The memorandum was signed by the Secretary Silvestre Bello III of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and Khalid Hassan, Country Director of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Philippines.

DOLE, being among the many key stakeholders of the project, has acknowledged the project’s contribution to the National Employment Recovery Strategy (NERS) of the Philippines.

This project, launched in July 2021, has a funding from the Government of Japan amounting to $2.2 million. It is targeted to support the recovery of micro, small and medium enterprises, including informal businesses, affected by the COVID-19 pandemic through capacity building on occupational safety and health, and digital entrepreneurship. Japan Information and Culture Center