[As Prepared]

[Greetings]

I have been in the Philippines for seven months and in that time I have seen the close relationship between the Government of the Philippines and U.S. Government.

This relationship is built on a deep friendship between our peoples that spans decades, with a great deal of familial ties, tourism, and cultural exchange.

This relationship is based on a long-standing partnership to work together to address development challenges in the Philippines, promote bilateral trade and commerce, and address regional political issues.

And this relationship is based on an alliance that supports our mutual security concerns, enables continued freedom of navigation, and upholds the defense of our shared values and liberty.

The United States and the Philippines truly are Friends/Partners/Allies.

It is a great privilege for me to join this fourth Higher Education Summit. When USAID partnered with PBEd, the private sector, academe, and the Philippine Government in 2012 for the Higher Education and Productivity project, it marked a renewed commitment from USAID to higher education in the Philippines.

In partnership with PBEd, we jump-started the conversation with government, academe, and industry on the critical role of a comprehensive national workforce agenda to drive inclusive growth for the Philippines. Our main approach was to define the challenge at hand, bring people together, and lay the foundations for collaboration among government, academia and the private sector at both national and local levels.

As part of USAID’s continued commitment to support Philippine aspirations for inclusive growth, last year, we launched a new partnership with PBEd to improve youth access to training and employment opportunities, and engage the private sector in workforce development. Our partnership is expected to create over 4,000 work-based training positions for youth, and these positions will be complemented with classroom-based skills training and competency certification.

Through this partnership, USAID and PBED will boost the work-readiness of close to 40,000 young Filipinos, and also offer valuable life skills training. In the next five years, we will strengthen the capacities of unemployed and uneducated youth, so that they can contribute to and benefit from more stable and prosperous communities.

This project is a true partnership that leverages local resources, capacity and talent to develop local solutions to advance development in the country. USAID committed $5 million dollars — more than 260 million pesos — over five years to support this project. But what is impressive is that Filipino companies and institutions have committed 6 pesos to match every USAID peso, bringing our total, shared investment for Filipino youth to more than 1.8 billion pesos.

In the room today, we have some of those partners representing different sectors from the Greater Manila Area, Iloilo, Davao, General Santos, Zamboanga, Cagayan de Oro, Bohol, Palawan, and, of course, Cebu. This geographic diversity is another great indication of how Filipinos are coming together to work on development challenges.

The Higher Education Summit would not be possible without enabling national and local policies. I would like to thank our Philippine government partners who are here with us today for continuing to trust and work with us.

I would also like to extend my gratitude to our partners in academia who have been very active in participating in and supporting our projects.

To the business leaders with us today, we are proud to partner with you in this important endeavor. We look forward to the commitment and expertise that the private sector has to offer in driving this initiative forward.

Great things await us, and this Summit is just one of the many steps toward achieving our goals. Again, our success is underpinned by your passion and ability and our commitment to work together.

Thank you again for your participation and have a productive summit!