Foreign chambers of commerce have forged a partnership with the academe to provide employment and internship opportunities to college students nationwide.

The foreign chambers representing American, Australian-New Zealand, British, Canadian, and European signed a memorandum of agreement with the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities that would initially provide priority access to deserving and qualified college students in its October Foreign Chambers Employment Expo.

Leslie Stokes, executive director of the British Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, said the partnership with PACU, the umbrella organization of 180 leading educational institutions in the country, speeds the process of eliminating the jobs-skills mismatch in the country.

“The partnership opens a lot of possibilities for the chambers and provides companies which we represent with a direct channel to the best available talent pool that can fit their respective operational needs,” Stokes said.

Newly elected PACU president Peter Laurel said they are honored to have been considered by the five chambers as a partner in its activities to uplift the Philippine economy and promote domestic employment.

“We expect this to be the start of a long-term partnership. PACU is committed to actively participate in the employment expo. We are very much excited in the employment and internship programs available to our students and the academic linkages the agreement represents,” Laurel said.

Under the MoA, PACU will send pre-screened students to the October employment expo.

PACU, on the other hand, will ensure that the most qualified graduating and third year college students nationwide will be coming to the employment expo to apply for internship programs and job vacancies among the participating companies.

The next staging of the employment expo will be participated by at least 40 companies in agribusiness, business process outsourcing, creative, infrastructure, energy, manufacturing, and tourism industries.