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Set-up 06 March 2008 |
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While efforts to whip
up hysteria against the government were being waged in the streets on
Thursday, last week, the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Inter-Agency
Coordinating Committee was meeting at the Land Bank of the Philippines
Board Room, the 10th since its creation, to assess programs and projects
for its over 3 million clients or beneficiaries. Unaffected by the call of the streets, it was all work and all business for the close to 50 agencies and non-government groups, like the Go Negosyo team of the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship, as we mapped out strategies for extending the reach of the government’s MSME programs. Highlighted in the meeting was the Department of Science and Technology’s (DoST) SET-UP or Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program. The DoST is a huge logistics and support facility for every aspiring entrepreneur. He can get from DoST all the assistance he will need, mostly for free and under just one roof. The DoST family is composed of two advisory bodies, the National Academy of Science and Technology and the National Research Council of the Philippines, with seven Research & Development institutes, five Sectoral Planning Councils, six Science & Technology institutes, 16 Regional Offices, and 87 Provincial Offices, with four cluster areas. In her report to the Committee, DoST’s Dr. Teresita Fortuna noted that last year, 811 firms were given direct technology transfer and commercialization support, while 77 other firms were helped indirectly. About 27,000 new jobs were created, with productivity in the assisted companies improving by as much as 424 percent. The 1987 Constitution mandates the state to "give priority to research and development, inventions, innovation, and their utilization." DoST’s SET-UP is one platform for promoting utilization of Filipino innovations and inventions. Priority sectors for SETUP are processed food, metals & engineering, furniture, horticulture, aquatic & marine products, and natural fibers, GHD & fashion accessories. The DoST interventions include technology upgrading and acquisition, technical training, packaging and labeling, testing and calibration, and technology consultancy. Last year, SET-UP provided testing and calibration services to 6,040 firms, helping them to generate income of R411.5 million. Packaging and labeling services were also provided to 465 firms which helped them increase their sales by R7.4 million and penetrate 147 new markets. Technology training, and technology clinics were provided to 4,288 firms. Other services for SMEs such as technology transfer, contract research, technical training and assistance, testing and technical needs assessment and technology business incubator were also given. Product development agencies listed and compiled their available technologies and facilities for dissemination to the public. Among the firms assisted by DoST and SET-UP were: Mapagmahal Foods, Inc., makers of calamansi juice and concentrates; Sterling Gifts, in silver and gold fashion accessories; Danilyn’s Enterprises, furniture and car upholstery; Toscano-Soriano Trading, crispy pusit and dilis; The Merry Cooks, Inc., bottled sauces and condiments; HiLas Marketing, dried mangoes; Fil-Choice Food, fruit preserves; MOTZ Food Products, polvoron, etc. To date, however, my favorite SET-UP story is still Moondish, a remarkable tale of the couple that brought laing and puso ng saging to markets abroad. We have it in all of us to be enterprising and entrepreneurial. And if you want to try your hand at entrepreneurship, call DoST Undersecretary Dr. Maripaz Perez, at tel. 837-7494, or email mlperez@dost.gov.ph. She has the answers to your questions. The Department of Labor and Employment, on the other hand, through Ms. Lowella Grande of the Bureau of Rural Workers, presented the PRESEED program, or the PRomotion of Employment through Self-employment and Entrepreneurship Development. This is an outright grant to qualified beneficiaries, many of whom are now part of MSME marketing network. At this time when strident calls for self-destruction, intrude, the timeliness and relevance of the gospels of self-employment and self-improvement are highlighted. If only we can preach and practice more of the latter. |
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