19 March 2013 – An agreement with Spain encouraging cooperation and exchange of best practices on research and development on information and communications technology (ICT) was signed by Department of Science and Technology – Information and Communications Technology Office (DOST-ICTO) Undersecretary Louis Napoleon Casambre and Spanish Ambassador to the Philippines Jorge Domecq at a ceremony held on March 18 at the DOST-ICTO premises.

The agreement also encourages the exchange of experiences between businesses,   educational institutions, government policy and regulatory agencies and other organizations on ICT.

The Philippines is expected to benefit from this agreement through sharing and exchanging best practices on ICT policy regulations, promotion of research and development in the area of ICT, bridging the digital divide, security aspects on fighting cybercrime, deployment of digital television and its regulatory issues and skills enhancement of human resources in this field.

As both the Philippines and Spain become more familiar with each other’s policy and regulatory regimes, expansion of trade and services related to ICT and ICT-enabled sectors such as business process outsourcing (BPOs) will be facilitated.

The Philippines and Spain share a profound and special relationship based on historical and cultural links and friendship and cooperation. Both countries cooperate in an array of fields such as trade and investments, culture and education, tourism, sports, social security, sustainable development, disaster risk reduction and transnational crimes, among others.

The agreement is a direct result of the first meeting of the PHL-Spain Joint Standing Committee (JSC) on Culture, Education and Sports held in Manila on 23 October 2012. The JSC serves as the formal mechanism for both countries to intensify cooperation in the fields of culture, education, and sports.

Also present during the signing were Mr. Monchito B. Ibrahim, DOST-ICTO Deputy Executive Director for Policies, Mr. Philip Varilla, DOST-ICTO Director for Policies, Ms. Bernadette Therese Fernandez, Director for Southern Europe Division, Office of European Affairs of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA-OEA) and Ms. Candy Cypres, Assistant Director for Southern Europe Division of DFA-OEA. END