The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is set to implement the second phase of its Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP), which seeks to enhance the competitiveness of the micro, small and medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in both domestic and international markets.
DOST Secretary Fortunato “Boy” T. de la Peña said the MSMEs can expect soon the implementation of its upgraded SETUP.
"Taking one notch higher, we will be implementing SETUP 2.0, intended to fully harness science, technology and innovation in order to enhance the competitiveness of MSMEs both in local and global markets,” he said, as the nation observed the World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development (WED for SusDev) on Thursday, March 4.
"It seeks to transform Philippine MSMEs into SMARTER MSMEs – enterprises that are Socially-responsive, Market-oriented, Agile, Resource-efficient, Technology-intensive, Environment-friendly and Resilient.”
SETUP aims to upgrade the technological capabilities and improve the productivity and efficiency of MSMEs.
SETUP provided technological interventions such as provision of innovation fund, technology transfer and commercialization assistance, consultancy, packaging assistance, technology trainings and laboratory and testing services to empower MSMEs to innovate, move up the technology scale and become more competitive, De la Peña said.
He noted that from 2018 to June 2019, a total of 1,135 MSMEs received innovation-enabling fund support to upgrade their technological capability and improve productivity in their operations.
“On decent work and economic growth and to make a dent on the innovation of the industry, we are actively finding ways to enhance the productivity and efficiency of communities and the production sector. One avenue is through upgrading the technology used by MSMEs which comprise 99 percent of industry in the Philippines,” he said.
Based on the latest Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data, 99.52 percent or 998,342 of the 1,003,111 business enterprises operating across the country are MSMEs, while the remaining 4,769 or 0.48 percent represent the large enterprises.