So much has been said about globalization and yet it is really just now that its effect on the Philippines becomes real. In the annual Global Competitiveness Report prepared by the World Economic Forum, the Philippines has slipped from 36th place in 2000 to 48th place in 2001 and in 2002 ranked 61st out of 80 countries included in the survey. Despite the economic gains last year reported by the government, the Philippines sadly lags behind the rest of the world in terms of competitive status.

Globalization and its challenges to business all over the world has put pressure on our local industries to produce or offer more, faster, better and cheaper products and services than our competitors, next-door Asian neighbors and even far-flung countries we never imagined before would be part of the competition.

As a developing country, however, the Philippines can only rely on its human capital to take it farther into this 21st century economic scenario without getting lost in bankruptcy and obscurity. With the wave of outsourcing and subcontracting of labor practiced by businesses in developed countries, we can become a valued, contributing and respected member of the global community only by building the quality of our manpower.

Thus, the role of the training practitioner today as learning managers and builders of the organization’s human resource becomes even more critical to survival and ever more strategic to winning in the global competition. How can we be management’s partners in helping the company survive and even compete in this highly challenging global business environment? What competencies do we need to acquire to be effective in our varied roles and expanding responsibilities? How can we best contribute to the development of our people, our organization, our nation? These are the questions we hope to answer in this year's 29th PSTD National Convention.