CEBU CITY -- Filipino nurses seeking greener pastures will not have a hard time doing so when the Mutual Recognition Agreement has been signed by participating heads of states and government in the 12th ASEAN Summit here.

The final draft of the MRA, one of the documents proposed by the Eminent Persons Group delegates of the 10 Southeast Asian Nations, was signed by economic ministers of the participating countries on Dec. 9, before the scheduled summit was shelved due to typhoon "Seniang." Once it is signed, the MRA will offer new opportunities to Filipino nurses who will now be allowed wider access to nursing employment in the ASEAN Region, Ramon Kabigting, director of the Bureau of International Trade Regulation of the Department of Trade and Industry, announced at a press briefing at the Cebu International Convention here.

Under the MRA, rules will be liberalized to allow free exchange of nursing services within the region.

It provides for a nurse to have minimum practice of not less than three successive years before application to be able to secure registration or license in a host country to be qualified.

Kabigting said Filipino nurses do not have to take the national nurse licensure examinations of the ASEAN nations to be able to practice subject, however, to guidelines to be formulated by the Nursing Regulatory Authority of the host country.

The MRA also provides for the creation of the ASEAN joint coordinating committee on nursing services to facilitate greater understanding of existing policies, procedures and practices, and develop and promote strategies to manage their implementation.

"The Philippines will be the MRA's biggest beneficiary, since wer are now the world's biggest exporter of nurses," the DTI official added.

Assistant Secretary Luis Cruz, director-general for the ASEAN Affairs, said earlier that member-countries of the region are also pursuing negotiations for similar agreements in the architectural, accountancy, surveying, and medical and tourism and information technology

professions.

FURNITURE INDUSTRY GETS BOOST

Meanwhile, the furniture industry of Cebu got a major boost by the province's hosting of the summit, officials of the Cebu Furniture Industry Foundation said yesterday. The CFFI infused P25 million worth of export-quality furniture it allowed the National Organizing Committee to use to decorate summit venues, particularly at the newly-completed P515 CICC in Mandaue City, and the Shangri-La Hotel Mactan in Cebu City.

Officials said 24 furniture firms are rallying behind the effort of the organization to showcase what Cebu can offer in terms of using the Cebuanos' skills in furniture-making.

They said the CFFI wanted to "live, expand, and benefit more from the summit to overcome industry makers from China and other countries."

"But we want marketing subsidy from the government," the officials added.*GCT

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