ABOITIZ Economic Estates is strengthening the workforce pipeline for companies in its LIMA Estate in Batangas through a new engineering campus designed to align education with the requirements of the industrial sector.
Nearly 800 first-year engineering students have started classes at the Batangas State University (BatStateU) campus inside the 1,100-hectare LIMA Estate in Lipa-Malvar, Batangas.
“Industrial competitiveness increasingly depends not only on infrastructure and investment capacity, but on whether companies can access the skills they need as technologies and production requirements evolve,” Aboitiz Economic Estates President and CEO Rafael Fernandez de Mesa said.
“The Batangas State University-LIMA Campus is one way we are responding to that challenge by bringing education closer to industry and building a stronger, more sustainable talent pipeline for the businesses and communities growing alongside LIMA Estate,” he added.
The interim campus is the first operational phase of a planned 10-hectare Batangas State University campus, which Aboitiz Economic Estates envisions as an industry-based learning hub linking engineering education with manufacturing, technology and workplace requirements.
LIMA Estate currently hosts more than 200 companies and about 75,000 workers, Aboitiz Economic Estates said, giving the campus direct proximity to a concentration of manufacturing and business activity.
The company said the industry-based learning model would allow businesses to participate in curriculum alignment, professional placements and skills development. It will also give them a role in preparing future engineers for emerging technologies and workforce requirements.
The campus forms part of Aboitiz Economic Estates’ Talent Edge framework, which covers academe, workforce development, upskilling and engagement.
The company said the initiative was intended to support the workforce requirements of businesses operating in Batangas and the wider Calabarzon region.
Batangas State University President Tirso Ronquillo said the campus would give engineering students opportunities to develop practical skills and understand professional expectations before entering the workforce.
The planned 10-hectare campus is envisioned as the Philippines’ first learning hub for industry-based learning.
Aboitiz Economic Estates has a 2,100-hectare portfolio of industrial-anchored estates across Southern Luzon and Central Visayas, with 260 industrial locators and 100,000 jobs generated, according to the company.
Shares of its parent firm, Aboitiz Equity Ventures, rose P0.70, or 1.94 percent, to close at P36.75 each on Tuesday.
