PH Bags First Place in Regional Hyundai World Skills Olympics

The Philippines bagged first place in the World Skill Olympics for Commercial Vehicle Distributors in the Asia and Pacific region.

Hosted by Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (HARI) last July 19 at the Hyundai Logistics Center (HLC) in Calamba Laguna, twelve top service technicians from the Philippines, Vietnam, and Myanmar competed for a chance to represent Asia Pacific at the very first Technical Truck and Bus World Skills Olympics in Korea this October 2018.

The Philippine won first place, with Gary Junio and Mark Eric Rellosa leading the pack; second place went to Thiha Saw and Aye Chan Aung of Myanmar; and third place went to Vũ Đình Công and Lê Hồng Ninh of Vietnam.

Junio and Rellosa will represent the Philippines in the Hyundai Motor Company's (HMC) first-ever Technical Truck and Bus World Skills Olympics in Korea.

The World Skill Olympics, which started in 1995, "celebrates and showcases the abilities of the best Service technicians for passenger cars." It aims to encourage service personnel in the world to update and improve their knowledge and skills, and to find new avenues of enhancing the after-sales customer experience.

According to  Park Sung Hwan, general manager of HMC Commercial Vehicle Technical Division,  after-sales service is the most important aspect that helps maintain and grow the truck and bus business.

He also added that HMC chose the Philippines to host the first-ever World Skills Olympics for Commercial Vehicles because "HARI has shown the highest level of cooperation (as host to the 2018 Hyundai Global Commercial Vehicle Service Conference in April this year). HARI has a well-organized team, excellent facilities, and the experience to stage such an event."