The Philippine government is funding a series of financial literacy seminars to help empower thousands of Filipinos living and working in Italy, the Philippine Embassy in Rome said Saturday.

The Embassy signed with Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) and Overseas Filipino Bank (OFBank) the terms of reference on the conduct of financial literacy seminars for overseas Filipinos in Italy.

“The Migrant Workers Office under the embassy in Rome funds the seminars but I am sure Landbank and OFBank are willing to help fund future seminars. In the meantime, they provide speakers and resource persons,” Philippine Ambassador to Italy Neal Imperial said in a news release.

The agreement, signed Oct. 12 at the Philippine Embassy in Rome, seeks to provide overseas Filipinos (OFs) with knowledge on the basics of saving, budgeting, and investment for them to make sound financial decisions.

The financial literacy training will cover topics such as savings, budgeting, and investments; debt management; insurance (also an investment option); entrepreneurship; and the reintegration program of the Philippine government.

The Embassy said this would help them avoid the pitfalls of misguided investment decisions or falling victim to scams.

The target participants are OFs and Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who may want to venture into small business opportunities and investments but lack the knowledge on where and how to begin.

Imperial said the seminars are part of the Philippine government’s efforts to empower 167,000 Filipinos in Italy and directly contribute to the attainment of an “inclusive, innovative and healthy Philippine financial sector as outlined in Chapter 11 of the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028.”

LBP president and chief executive officer Lynette Ortiz, meanwhile, encouraged OF and OFWs to open savings accounts through the OFBank Digital On-Boarding System with Artificial Intelligence to avail of the convenience of online banking.

OFBank president Randolph Montesa also signed the agreement. (PNA)