TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- As all the OFWs from the first ever direct-hiring program in Davao by a Taiwanese company have all arrived in Taiwan in early March in succession, the first group of them have been working on the production line of I-Mei Foods Company for a few weeks and described the working environment as very nice and the staff very accommodating.

In a video taken by the company, one of the Philippine workers named Frances said that she would like to thank their government, especially Davao Mayor Sara Duterte for giving them this wonderful opportunity, and thank the president of MECO, the POEA Manila and POEA Mindanao who made their dreams possible.

She also wanted to tell the family of all OFWs not to worry, and they are very ok here and enjoy their work.

Another worker, Carlo, expressed his thankfulness to the Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter Davao city mayor Sara Duterte for supporting the government-to-government direct hiring project.

He also mentioned that the visa, plane ticket and other fees were provided by the company, which is a very big help for them.

One of the workers, Esrevenson, who just arrived last Thursday said the whole place is really amazing after given a company tour, and he also expressed his excitement and said that he couldn’t wait to start working.

He also wanted to tell his family that he arrived safely, and also wanted his wife and daughter to know that he loves them and misses them very much.

The arrival of the group marks a milestone in the successful cooperation between MECO, POEA , Davao City, and I-Mei Foods Co. The food company held a series of direct-hiring interviews and orientations in November 2017 in Davao City, which is the first of its kind by a Taiwanese company in the city on the southern island of Mindanao and hired 170 workers from the recruiting events.

I-Mei Foods, known as Taiwan’s leading food company and biggest bread provider, first hired 50 workers from the Philippines back in 1993, but now employs 530 from Taiwan's southern neighbor, or about one-sixth of the company’s total staff.

The company decided to approach the direct hiring of Filipino workers to spare them the burden of the hefty brokerage fees, after learning about the costly broker fees they previously had to pay before coming to Taiwan. It is also Taiwan's very first direct hiring event held in Davao to exercise corporate social responsibility and in response to President Tsai Ing-wen’s "New Southbound Policy," as well as participate in Philippine President Duterte’s effort at narrowing down the urban-rural income gap.