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U.S. Embassy Photo Release

June 21, 2007                                                                                    

 

 

USTDA Grant to Help Philippine Government Decrease Identity Fraud

 

 

 

The $502,534 grant was conferred during a signing ceremony held at the U.S. Embassy in Manila. U.S. Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney and NSO Administrator Carmelita N. Ericta (pictured above) signed the grant agreement on behalf of the U.S. and Philippine governments. U.S. Embassy Commercial Counselor Judy Reinke (far left) and Valentino Abuan of the NSO (far right) witnessed the signing.

 

Decreasing identity fraud and improving government security functions is the goal of a U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) technical assistance grant awarded to the Philippines National Statistics Office (NSO) this month.  The grant responds to an executive order issued last year in the Philippines that requires government agencies to work toward implementing a national registry. 

 

The $502,534 grant was conferred during a signing ceremony held at the U.S. Embassy in Manila.   U.S. Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney and NSO Administrator Carmelita N. Ericta (pictured above) signed the grant agreement on behalf of the U.S. and Philippine governments.  U.S. Embassy Commercial Counselor Judy Reinke (far left) and Valentino Abuan of the NSO (far right) witnessed the signing.

 

The NSO has the largest database of Philippine civilian and government employee information.  Together with the National Economic Development Authority, the NSO requested USTDA funding for U.S. experts to provide technical recommendations as a registry is developed that will be accessible to government agencies and support government services for Filipino citizens.

 

The NSO has selected Unisys Philippines, a subsidiary of Unisys Corporation (headquarted in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania), to carry out the pilot program.  In addition to the USTDA grant awarded today, Unisys will participate in this pilot project, which will include an assessment of existing systems, an analysis of their use within each agency, and recommendations on system requirements.  Unisys will also install a pilot project using biometric data that will harmonize identification systems managed by a variety of Philippine government agencies. 

 

USTDA advances economic development and U.S. commercial interests in developing and middle-income countries.  The agency funds various forms of technical assistance, early investment analysis, training, orientation visits and business workshops that support the development of a modern infrastructure and a fair and open trading environment.  USTDA’s strategic use of foreign assistance funds to support sound investment policy and decision-making in host countries creates an enabling environment for trade, investment and sustainable economic development. 

 

For more information, visit USTDA’s web site at www.ustda.gov or contact Donna Thiessen at +001-703-875-4357.

 

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Last Update :: 06/26/2007
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