by Erwin Nicavera/PNA
BACOLOD CITY — The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has allocated PHP17.7 million for the implementation of technology innovation projects of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Negros Occidental for 2019.
The funding assistance is provided through the agency’s Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SET UP) Innovation Fund (i-Fund).
Allan Francis Daraug, director of DOST-Negros Occidental, said in a statement on Thursday that most of the existing beneficiaries in the province are those in food processing and metals and engineering sectors.
These beneficiaries repay the total cost of the assistance to the government for three years without interest, he added.
SET UP is the DOST’s key strategy to boost the competitiveness of MSMEs through the provision of science and technology-based interventions.
These include technical consultancy services, product development, process and equipment upgrading, technology training, laboratory and testing services, and packaging and labeling assistance.
Priority sectors are those belonging to food processing, furniture, gifts, decors and housewares, agriculture, aquaculture and marine, metals and engineering, information and communications technology (ICT), and pharmaceuticals and health products.
Records of DOST-Negros Occidental showed that SET UP has already benefited some 106 MSMEs in the province.
In 2018, the agency also allocated PHP17.7 million for facility upgrading while in 2017, the total funding was PHP12.6 million.
The program accepts recipient-enterprises existing for at least three years in the manufacturing industry, which are authorized by the Department of Trade and Industry and Securities and Exchange Commission, or the Cooperative Development Authority for cooperatives and with necessary permits from the local government unit.
Meanwhile, the SET UP i-Fund forms part of the implementation of SET UP 2.0, which integrates interventions at the industry and sector level aside from addressing firm-level science and technology constraints, and is set for full implementation next year.
