Aside from the labor opportunities in the United States, Philippine Ambassador to the United States, Honorable Alberto del Rosario also tackled the labor opportunities in the Caribbean Islands in the recently-held International Labor Opportunities Forum held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC).

The Caribbean or the West Indies is a group of countries and islands in the Caribbean Sea. These islands or countries are located from the southeastern areas of Mexico to the northwest of Venezuela in South America.

The ambassador said that the 21-island nations of the Caribbean are labor-importing. In fact, the number of foreign workers in this region reached 280, 000 in 2002. Unfortunately, in this number of workers, only 3,000 (1%) are Filipino.

In the Turks and Caicos, there are 400 Filipino workers. 300 of them are in the Hotel industry while the remaining number is in the Construction industry. The ambassador further said that the expected scenario is that this country will hire at least 3,000 workers in the next two (2) years.

Meanwhile, Trinidad and Tobago indicated job opportunities for thousands of Filipino migrant professionals. There are at least 150 Filipino doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and midwives in the country and they are expecting more medical and construction workers in the future.

In the same manner, Jamaica has a strong demand for Filipino nurses. They offer conditions of employment for Filipino nurses, and since the labor markets are continuously growing, they proposed that there should be Honorary Consular offices in the region and Labor offices in Florida, Caracas, and Venezuela.

Lastly, the ambassador said that the Philippines has a niche in the global labor market, however, it must remain competitive to stay ahead.