Using Science and Technology in Order to Improve Our MSMEs

credits to en.aectourismthai.com

Because it will be entering the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) 2015, a program which aims to unite all ASEAN countries into a single integrated economic body, the Philippine government is now taking measures to improve on its competitiveness in order to ensure its national development.

One of the proposed projects of the country is to improve on its Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) through the integration of Science and Technology (S&T) innovations.

credits to dti.gov.ph

MSMEs have a huge role in promoting the country’s economic development. They contribute in not only providing employment to the people, but also in the decentralization and industrialization of the rural areas as well as the use of indigenous resources. As of 2009 the MSMEs account for 99.6% of all the registered businesses in the country, providing employment for 63% of the labor force and accounting for 35.7% of the total sales and value added to manufacture. (Santos, 2013) As the former Senator Edgardo Angara (Angara, 2011) put it: “MSME’s are the real backbone of the economy. People do not realize that your businesses have greater direct impact on Filipinos’ lives than do big players” Given these values it is clearly seen that in improving our local MSMEs, the economic situation of the Philippines could greatly improve.

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST), with its program Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP), it will aid the MSMEs to adopt the much needed technological innovations in order to improve the efficiency and quality of their products and services, thus contributing to their overall competitiveness.

Through SETUP, the MSMEs will be able to successfully address and implement changes in their technological problems and be able to deliver their products and services more. The 8 priority industries for SETUP are as follows:

Food Processing

Furniture

Gifts, Decors and Handicrafts

Aquatic and Marine

Horticulture/Agriculture

Metals and Engineering

Information and Communication Technology

Health

One of the beneficiaries of
the DOST-SETUP Program
credits to www.ohmybuhay.com

One of the beneficiaries of this SETUP program in the Cordillera Region is the Tawid Silver of the Tawid Crafts Corporation, a family-owned business which manufactures top-quality handcrafted jewellery using the indigenous materials found in the region. From its humble beginnings in 1992, it grew to a corporation through the help of the DOST-SETUP program. With aid of the DOST-Cordillera Regional Office, the business has received an automatic vacuum wax injector, rotary tumbler, and double frame, among many others. In addition to that, they also received free training seminars and consultation services from the department which proved to be a huge aid in their growing business venture.

As of late 2013, the DOST-SETUP has already aided around 200 MSMEs in the Cordillera region. Likewise, other satellite offices of the DOST-SETUP around the country had also produced more or less the same results.

REFERENCE:

Bitonio, J. (2012, November 11). Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). SlideShare. Retrived
February 4, 2014, from http://www.slideshare.net/jobitonio/philippines-micro-small-medium-enterprises-msmes

Dar, C. (2014, February 3). DOSTs SETUP: Boosting MSMEs competitiveness thru S&T
innovations.Philippine Information Agency. Retrieved February 4, 2014, from
http://news.pia.gov.ph/index.php?article=61391408138#sthash.hPwgzebz