The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) held the 2018 OCAC Fire and Rescue Training Program for Compatriot Junior Entrepreneurs from the Philippines May 14-18. The aim of the Program was to integrate the resources of government departments, enhance contacts with overseas compatriot junior entrepreneurs and provide specialized fire and rescue training to allow them to engage in social service work. In total, 32 compatriot junior entrepreneurs who are members of volunteer fire and rescue teams took part. The National Fire Agency was commissioned to provide specialized fire and rescue courses and practical training over the 5-day program. The aim was to enhance the rescue ability of these volunteer fire fighters and raise the level of rescue quality in the Philippines; it is hoped that the trainees will support the ROC and serve the compatriot community after returning home, helping to protect the lives and property of overseas compatriots in the Philippines.

The participants visited the OCAC after the intensive training program came to an end on May 18, where they were received by OCAC Deputy Minister Kao Chien-chih; the farewell dinner was hosted by OCAC Minister Wu and was attended by Minister Without Portfolio John Chen-Chung Deng. Minister Wu stated that this training program shows that the government of Taiwan's New Southbound policy has been extended from traditional areas such as trade, tourism and education to emergency rescue training and that Taiwan has the capability to be an important disaster rescue training base in the Asia-Pacific region. On May 19, the trainees visited the Fire Safety Museum of Taipei City Fire Department which gave them a good understanding of the evolution of firefighting in Taiwan and disaster prevention planning before they departed for home.