The Philippines should expedite the implementation of mutual recognition arrangements to allow the free flow of professional workers in the country, state-run think tank Philippine Institute of Development Studies said Wednesday.
MRAs enable the qualifications of professionals from one country to be mutually recognized by other signatory countries. They promote mutual agreement on standards, licensing and certification of professional workers among the Asean member-states.
The PIDS said in a recent study the benefits from the freer flow of professional are “immense.” It said these benefits should encourage Asean countries to take necessary steps to remove the impediments delaying the implementation of the MRAs.
“Increased cross-border movement of skilled labor presents significant economic advantages both for sending and receiving countries,” it said.
The PIDS said there were challenges in the implementation of MRAs due to constitutional limitations and other legislations that restrict the practice of profession to Filipino nationals.
“A survey undertaken for the AEC [Asean Economic Community] scorecard project, which measured the Philippines’ readiness to Asean integration, underscored the slow progress of MRA implementation due to a number of deterring factors,” the think tank said.
These challenges include the absence of comprehensive databases, research studies on best practices and review of foreign reciprocity; absence of a coordinating body that would provide the necessary information on what MRA is, its objectives and mechanics involved as well as its implications.
It said that weak coordination between the national government and agencies involved in negotiations and professional regulatory bodies and among national government agencies in policymaking, information gathering, dissemination and advocacy efforts was also a factor in the slower implementation of MRA in the country.
The PIDS said at the regional level, a major challenge was the varied competencies among the member states of Asean to implement the MRAs.
“This can be attributed to differences in educational curricula and licensure examinations, language barriers, limited resources for capacity building in the less-developed AMS, and weak regulatory processes in individual countries to maintain or enforce agreed standards,” PIDS said.