61.   With its economy thriving and businessmen complaining about a shortage of skilled labor, Chile has long promised to pour more money into education.

62.   You do get a critical mass of skilled labor.

63.   You need seriously skilled labor.

64.   Yet an aging work force provides potential skilled labor for a new economy straining for well-trained and well-schooled help.

65.   A Perth company said Wednesday it had to import tradesmen from the Philippines because of a nationwide shortage of skilled labor.

66.   Addressing the APEC meeting, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Domingo Siazon said the region already is experiencing shortages of skilled labor.

67.   And he noted that oil companies were not helping to alleviate unemployment in the region because they needed more skilled labor than was locally available.

68.   As a result, it has been plagued by parts shortages and a lack of skilled labor, on top of the logistical difficulties of such a massive undertaking.

69.   Building the dam itself, however, will require skilled labor using heavy machinery, project engineers say.

70.   But business executives who are bucking the trend say there are factors here, like the highly skilled labor force, that can counteract those drawbacks.