FILIPINO ARCHITECTS TO GET ACCREDITATION IN APEC COUNTRIES

Through the APEC Architect Registry, qualified Filipino architects will be internationally accredited for the practice of their profession in member countries.

The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC),  is an international forum composed of twenty-one member economies that have undertaken to act collectively to promote economic and technical cooperation within the Asia-Pacific region. On the initiative of the APEC Human Resources Development Working Group (HRDWG), one of the sectoral groups established to implement APEC programs, the APEC Architect Project was endorsed as a direct response to the strategic priority of facilitating the mobility of qualified persons by developing a means for the mutual recognition of qualifications.

The APEC Architect Project builds on the World Trade Organization (WTO) General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) principles for the progressive liberalization of trade in services through the reduction of regulatory restrictions, leading to reciprocal agreements between member economies.

The APEC Monitoring Committee Philippine Section, composed of the United Architects of the Philippines (UAP), Philippine Regulation Commission (PRC) and the Commission of Higher Education (CHED), recently launched the APEC Architect Register simultaneously with other APEC-member countries.

 “The APEC Architect Registry is a response to the strategic priority of facilitating mobility of qualified persons through the mutual recognition of professional qualifications among countries,” said Edric Marco C. Florentino, fuap, UAP’s national president. “It breaks down a major barrier that prevents Filipinos from practicing architecture abroad.”

The synchronized international launch of APEC Architect Registry culminates four years of preparatory meetings held in Brisbane, Sydney, Kuala Lumpur, Taiwan, Hawaii, and Tokyo in which participating APEC countries agreed on the criteria by which a local architect may be evaluated as an APEC architect.

The Philippine launched was held at the Manila Hotel’s Pandango room and attended by foreign dignitaries, top government leaders, and key representatives of the initiating organizations. It is made possible with the help of Wilcon Builders Supply and Wilcon Builders’ Depot, material providers supplying the local building design and construction industry.

During the meeting in Tokyo, Japan, the participating economies agreed to simultaneously launch the APEC Architect Register in their respective countries on the 4th anniversary of the first APEC Architect Project meeting on September 19, 2005, on which date the APEC Architect Register will be operational and applications may be accepted.