Another upskilling program for Philippine management personnel, the Industrial Economics Program (IEP), was introduced by the Center for Research and Communication (CRC) in the late 1960s and early 1970s. When Dr. Jess Estanislao, Founder of CRC, left the Program Implementation Agency (PIA) under the Office of the President (then President Diosdado Macapagal), he transitioned to the private sector as a banker.

At that time, with the Philippine Government encouraging an import substitution approach to industrialization, potential investors were highly interested in the economics of various industries—for example, the economics of steel, pharmaceuticals, energy, food manufacturing, paper and pulp, cement, and chemicals. Industrial economists were needed not only for preparing feasibility studies but also for the actual operations of enterprises entering these new sectors. This required an optimal combination of expertise in macroeconomics (to understand the impact of monetary, fiscal, trade, and industrial policies on individual firms) and microeconomics (the economics of marketing, production, finance, and human resources). Even top universities like the University of the Philippines, the University of Santo Tomas, Ateneo, and De La Salle weren't producing professionals with the knowledge and skills for industrial economic research. At best, these universities graduated generalists steeped in economic theory but unable to apply their theoretical knowledge to actual industry or business research. They needed significant upskilling, not just in advanced economic theories but also in the tools of econometrics, research and statistical methods, and, considering business's responsibility to address unemployment and poverty, social economics.

Jess decided to gather a group of us from allied fields—economics, statistics, philosophy, and communications—to develop a program that would upskill, reskill, and retool college graduates from top universities across the Philippines. These trainees had diverse specializations, including electrical engineers, metallurgical engineers, economics and business administration majors, philosophers, and communications majors. Regardless of their college backgrounds, the first trainees in the Industrial Economics Program (IEP) had to develop expertise in economic theory, economic history, statistics and econometrics, research methods, social economics, and effective communication. For those who hadn't specialized in economics during their undergraduate years, we designed a Summer Qualifying Program (SQP) that provided them with a sufficient grounding in economic theory through subjects like Economics of a Nation, Economics of a Firm, Economics of an Industry, and Statistical Analysis.

Even before the German pedagogical approach called Dualvoc was introduced to the Philippines in the early 1980s, CRC had already decided to use a dual training method for forming "industrial economists" or "business economists." After crafting the curriculum to upskill college graduates we recruited from the best universities, albeit with highly diverse specializations, Jess contacted business enterprises interested in employing industrial and business economists. He proposed a work-study arrangement to them. The "graduate staff" we were upskilling or reskilling through morning classes would immediately apply what they were learning at their respective sponsoring companies in the afternoon. This combination of classroom instruction and on-the-job training was, without our naming it such, a Dualvoc program, as the Germans call it. As I mentioned, our IEP began as early as 1969. The Dualvoc system was formally introduced into the Philippine educational system only in the early 1980s with the emergence of what is now the very successful Dualtech School in Canlubang, which has trained over 10,000 skilled workers in electro-mechanics over the years. Dualtech was established with funding from a German foundation called Hanns Seidel. During Fidel V. Ramos's presidency, the Dual Training Law was passed, formally legalizing the work-study program, which has since evolved into the EBET (Enterprise Based Education and Training) Law.

Today, the Industrial Economics Program (IEP) is the oldest and most well-known masteral course in economics at the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P). It's a five-year, fast-track master’s program for those with advanced quantitative skills and training. Students strong in mathematics typically thrive in this specialization. Graduates of this course earn both a bachelor’s and master’s degree upon completion, making it an excellent option for those wishing to pursue higher education immediately before entering the workforce. With its focus on the analysis of industries and business, it is the only economics program of its kind in the Philippines. Because it zeroes in on economic trends and strategic decision-making, it’s the perfect training ground for future professionals interested in using mathematical concepts and tools within a corporate setting. Over the last 56 years, the IEP has produced over 500 industrial or business economists, some of whom have risen to top management positions, while others have become well-known names in economic and business forecasting, constantly quoted for their expert economic forecasts. To cite just a few examples, the names of Jun Neri, Jun Trinidad, Anton Periquet, Vaughn Montes, Omar Cruz, Tom Aquino, the late Rolly Dy, PJ Garcia, and Nick Mapa have been consistently heralded by the press as leading and credible economic and business forecasters.

The original IEP has now come full circle and is being transformed by the UA&P's School of Economics into the Graduate Staff Scholarship Program (GSSP). The GSSP is an honors program for outstanding participants in the Master of Science in Industrial Economics (MSIE) of UA&P. A key feature of the GSSP is to immerse participating scholars in business organizations and assist partner institutions by providing them with highly trained young talents educated in quantitative and qualitative analysis in the allied fields of economics, business, communication skills, teamwork, and business ethics, all supported by a strong liberal arts background. The UA&P School of Economics, together with the host company, will design the internship project, which will involve analyzing an issue determined by the host institution. The School of Economics faculty will then mentor the scholar in crafting strategies to address the issue at hand. This project will form the basis of the intern’s thesis for the Master of Science in Industrial Economics degree.

There will be no employer-employee relationship during the GSSP, but the host institution may choose to hire the GSSP interns after the on-the-job engagement. The GSSP will run for 15 weeks per semester (e.g., 2 days a week for the semester—240 hours from August to December 2025 and 240 hours from January to May 2026). The host company will provide a tuition grant of P90,000 per semester, totaling P180,000 for the entire academic year. At the same time, the host company will provide a monthly stipend to GSSP participants from UA&P in keeping with its existing policy.