Professional Regulation Commission Chairperson Teresita R. Manzala has accepted to lead the Philippine Team to the ASEAN Task Force on the National Qualifications Framework meeting in Bangkok, Thailand from October 30, 2012 until November 01, 2012 under the ASEAN Australia New Zealand Free Trade Area.

The Department of Trade and Industry, through Officer-in-Charge Angelo Salvador Benedictos, Philippine Senior Economic Official to ASEAN, issued the formal invitation to Chairperson Manzala to head the delegation, citing her highly valuable experience in the ASEAN Australia New Zealand Free Trade Agreements (AANZFTA) international trade negotiations.

The Philippine team will participate in the project under the ASEAN Australia new Zealand Free Trade Area project, “Education and Training Governance: Capacity Building for National Qualification Framework”. The project aims to provide assistance in the facilitation in the movement of natural persons and increased educational sector investment among the parties for the adoption of a National Qualification Framework.

The adoption of the framework will pave the way for the formation of a regional qualification framework. The project is a Trade in Services component of the AANZFTA under which ASEAN with Australia and New Zealand will spearhead activities to reduce constraints on market access for service providers and investors and to enhance the cross border flow of services in the region that will indubitably redound to the mobility of professionals in the region and in Australia and New Zealand as well.