The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) eyes 65, 000 new high-value and professional jobs for OFWs as the agency spearheads the first international labor mart in the country.

According to POEA deputy administrator Carmelita S. Dimzon, several foreign employers from 20 different countries will participate in the forthcoming DOLE Labor Opportunities Program.

“This is the first in the history of the employment programs of the POEA that employers are coming here instead of local licensed agencies going abroad to get job orders,” she said.

POEA expects to offset the 55, 000 jobs lost from Japan’s new hiring policy through this new program. The agency also hopes to find “decent and high-value jobs” for OFWs since “it is high time to forget about construction workers but focus on the deployment of professionals and highly-skilled workers”.

The deputy administrator also said that the loss from the Japan job market may be offset from jobs generation in other countries like Israel, Macau, Singapore, China, Australia, UK, etc.

The strategy, Dimzon said, is to strengthen hold of traditional markets and tap new and emerging markets.

For this year, the POEA expects to hit its target of deploying one million workers and attain a 13 percent annual growth for the next five years.