Passing rates for Filipino caregivers and nurses under the people-to-people exchange provisions of the Philippines-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (Pjepa) remain dismally low, but this will be a point of improvement

moving forward, Japan’s top envoy to the Philippines assured.

Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Kazuhide Ishikawa made the pledge in a speech before the business community during the Makati Business Club’s General Membership Meeting last Friday.

Signed on September 9, 2006, the Pjepa is considered a milestone in Philippine international trade relations, because it is the first bilateral economic-partnership agreement entered into by the country.

In outlining the dimensions of Japanese-Philippine relations, Ishikawa said active people-to-

people exchange, apart from

tourism, is still a priority.

Under the Pjepa framework, Filipino nurses and caregivers are allowed entry to Japan, so long as they pass several requirements. These include Japanese-language proficiency and national licensure examinations. Candidate nurses

and caregivers are required to undergo six months of language training in the country and in Japan to prepare them for the tests.

They may be required to undergo on-the-job training for at least three years before being allowed to take licensure exams.

The difficulty of the examinations and the process to qualify have been points of contention of the Filipino applicants before, and the numbers reflect this. Ishikawa showed data that from 2009 to

2016, the average passing rate for nurses for the national examinations is at 11.5 percent, while that of caregivers’ are at 43.2 percent.

Out of a total of 1,633 candidates for both categories, only 249 have successfully hurdled the examinations to become permanent healthcare workers in Japan. Ishikawa said they are working to improve passing rates, as he proposed measures such as extension of test hours and additional hours of training.

While significant changes on easing the regulations on the entry of Filipino workers to Japan have yet to happen, tourism is at least one area where people-to-people exchange will assuredly increase.

According to Ishikawa, half-a- million Japanese tourists visit the Philippines annually, while an average 300,000 Filipino tourists visit Japan every year.

These numbers are seen increasing, as visa requirements for Philippine tourists have been relaxed two years ago. Japan is the Philippines’s largest source of official development assistance, and is also its top trading partner.

Pjepa emphasizes cooperation on a wide range of areas, including human-resource development, science and technology, trade and investmen promotion, small and medium enterprises, and the environment.

The pact also covers financial services, energy and environment, and transportation, among others.

It promotes the liberalization of tourism- and travel-related services; business-process outsourcing; banking and other financial services; recreational, cultural and sporting services; advertising; management consulting; audiovisual services; environmental services; and value-added services in telecommunications, among others.