The United States has partnered with various health care giants, including Unilab, for a P622 million (USD 10.6 million) worth of program that aims to train Filipino workers in the high-tech manufacturing sector.

During the launching of the Advanced Manufacturing Workforce Development Alliance (AMDev) on Monday, US Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson said the initiative "will improve young people's ability to gain meaningful employment and contribute to building a peaceful, inclusive, and prosperous future for all Filipinos."

This is because AMDev intends to enhance the skills and resilience of the Philippine workforce to enable them to adapt to changes resulting from the adoption of automation, robotics, and artificial intelligence in manufacturing, according to the embassy.

Through the program, the US Agency for International Development and the Unilab Foundation will offer apprenticeships, immersion programs, and knowledge sharing to students and professors from a network of colleges and universities surrounding manufacturing sites in the country.

The project will also push for the academic recognition of its training programs to enable participants to pursue further education, the embassy added.

"We hope that this private sector collaboration will allow the Philippines to advance to 'high middle-income' economic status and strengthen its ability to increase sustainable, inclusive, and transparent economic growth in the broader Indo-Pacific economic community," Carlson said.

The ceremony was held at the Unilab Pharma Campus in Biñan, Laguna, where Unilab Foundation President Clinton Andrew Campos Hess said "meaningful partnerships are the key to affecting positive change in society."

Under the partnership, Washington will contribute P311 million (USD5.3 million) in development assistance.

Meanwhile, the other half of the project cost will be funded by private sector partners that include Unilab Foundation, Amherst Laboratories, Belmont Softgel Pharma, Fastech Advanced Assembly, Western Digital Philippines, Makati Business Club, and the Investment and Capital Corporation of the Philippines Group Foundation.