The Japan Economic Newswire reported on December 7 that after a summit among Asian leaders in Laos last month, leaders in the Philippines and Japan have decided make a free trade agreement very similar to one currently existing between the Philippines and South Korea.

The trade agreement was mainly focused on allowing Filipino nurses and caregivers access to work in Japan, given the shortage of employees in the medical profession Japan is experiencing and the increased population of elderly Japanese.  However, a government agency under the Labor Department, The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, is first developing a program whereby potential caregivers wishing to work in Japan will be educated in the Japanese language and culture. 

The government program is very similar to another trade agreement, made with South Korea, through which the Philippines as already sent 3,000 workers to South Korea who are skilled in factory and computer technology, machine operations and medical caregiving.  This similar program also initiated a language pre-employment training, hoping to make sure all Filipinos working in South Korea became properly adapted. 

In the private sector, similar employment trade agreements have also emerged.  One such private organization is The STI group which has also contracted with a Japanese medical agency in order to send Filipinos for employment.  One top of their courses in information technology and nursing, STI has begun offering classes in Japanese.

However, in order to prevent a shortage of health care providers within its own country, the Philippines has set a limit on the number of employees that may enter this trade agreement and limit on the time they may send in the neighboring country.

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On December 6, 2004 the Mid Day reported that the Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport has begun consulting architects about structural changes to the airports terminals due to a new design aimed at easing congestion at the immigration counters.

The plan looks to centralizing the immigration counter, which are currently located in two different terminals and adding eight new immigration counters to the centralized location. 

Airport official stated that the current immigration counters’ set up causes not only confusion but chaos, even with only two plane load moving through immigration.  However, they claim that the planned changes should work to meet future increased numbers of passengers and allow immigration official to easily move from counter to counter.