Section 4
SEC. 4. Section Four of Republic Act Numbered Forty Seven Hundred Twenty-Four is hereby amended to read as follows: "SEC. 4. Establishment of Metals Industry Research and Development Center.—There is hereby established a non-stocky non-profit corporate entity to be known as the Metals Industry Research and Development Center which shall have the general powers set out in Section Thirteen of Act Numbered Fourteen Hundred Fifty-Nine as amended. The administration of said Center and the exercise of its corporate powers are hereby vested exclusively in the Board of Trustees organized under this Act. The Center shall undertake the following activities for which it may collect reasonable fees and charges: Business Economics Advisory Services: To provide management advisory services to industrial firms to help increase their operational and financial efficiency; To render consultation services in the preparation of feasibility studies for new projects for the metals industry; To provide a periodic analysis of the economic status of the industry and its component sectors as a guide for policy determination by the government and as an individual framework for financial institutions; To serve as liaison between the private sector and the government agencies implementing industrial policies to provide close rapport required for the successful development of the metals and allied industries; and To provide computer services, including: the preparation of computer programs for operations research type of applications to the metals industry. Training, Information Exchange and Accreditation Service; To operate an information exchange center to gather and disseminate information on recent economic and technological developments, both local and foreign, that are of interest to the industry; To assemble and maintain an up-to-date library on metals economics and technology; To collect information and statistics for preparation of comprehensive and up-to-date industry studies; To maintain, in consultation with the Department of Education and with appropriate existing government agencies and training institutions an effective training program for engineers, technicians and craftsmen to cope with the manpower requirements of metal plants and metal fabrication industries ; To correlate studies on the various sectors of the metals and allied industries a basis for formulating a development program and a framework for investment to induce the rapid and systematic growth of the industry; To design, develop, and implement a system of accreditation for skilled laborers, technicians and engineers who have attained a degree of experience or proficiency in the various fields of specialization in the metals and allied industries. Control and Testing of Metal Products: To determine and recommend appropriate standards for the metals and allied industries to protect consumers and end-users and to enable local producers to attain quality that will meet international standards; To study, recommend and provide upon request suitable production methods that private industry may adopt to improve quality and to standardize products to comply with the close tolerance requirements of mass production and modern engineering products; To provide umpire services in arbitration cases between suppliers and customers dealing with metals or intermediate and finished products of the metals and allied industries; Metals Research and Development: To establish a metals research and development laboratory to provide answers to problems encountered by the metals and allied industries; To provide working experience and opportunities for professional development to creative Filipino engineers at both the professional and student levels in the fields of metals technology; To develop and introduce methods and processes for the utilization of indigenous raw materials in the manufacture of metal products; To encourage the development of tributary industries with emphasis on those which may use locally available materials, such as coal chemicals; To undertake fully or lend support to engineering firms which lack physical facilities for performing developmental or evaluation tests in improving existing plant methods or introducing new ones; To provide technological services to and train manpower in metalcraft industries in the rural areas to improve their production techniques and the quality of their products; To engage in the manufacture and disposition of metal products which the private sector is in capable or unwilling to manufacture; and To undertake such other services as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.