BAGUIO CITY, Sept. 10 (PNA) — Two hundred ninety four micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the Cordillera Region leveled up their productivity and competitiveness through the Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
DOST Cordillera Regional Director Julius Caesar Sicat, on Thursday, September 10, said the DOST-Cordillera was able to provide PhP108.85 million in funding assistance to the 294 MSMEs, including eight program beneficiaries which generated 2,400 new jobs or employment under the program.
Assistance provided to the MSMEs include technology and equipment upgrading, technical assistance and consultancy services, laboratory testing and analysis of products to ensure the compliance on product standards, and product packaging and labeling assistance.
A Regional Technical Evaluation Committee (RTEC) composed of experts in the industries, academe and other professional organizations, evaluates and assesses the viability of the SETUP project proposals.
Continuous project monitoring is undertaken to ensure the compliance of the MSMEs or co-operators to the memorandum of agreement (MOA) they have signed under the program.
Sicat emphasized the importance of bringing in engines of growth and effective tools for competitiveness needed to devolve in the growing ASEAN common market.
“Science and Technology is an enabler and empowering tool that would help level the playing field for our MSMEs in today’s smarter economies.
Land, material, resources and physical strength used to be valued as capital, today, people rely on knowledge and information on new technologies to succeed”, Sicat said.
“SETUP paves the way for all Mang Juan and Aling Maria to reap the benefits of Science and technology and bring “Agham na Ramdam” in the countryside”, Sicat added.
DOST already provided assistance to about 3,000 MSMEs in the country which translated to around 115,000 new jobs in the last five years. (PNA)