DOST--DTI partnership spells stronger SMEs growth

By MARY CHARLOTTE O. FRESCO
MediaCore, STII

Small Business Corporation Chair Zorayda Amelia Alonzo wants to strengthen the growth and development of small and medium enterprises with the support of Department of Science and Technology in terms of technology transfer as input to Department of Trade and Industry's national SME development plan set for implementation over the next six years.

Alonzo bared the concept in a speech during DOST's Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SET-UP) planning workshop, one of the highlights of the 2004 Visayas Science and Technology Transfer Road Show held recently at SM Trade Hall in Cebu City.

SBC is an attached agency of DTI mandated to support and sustain the growth of SMEs through various modes of financing and credit delivery systems.  Alonzo appealed to key DOST officials to help SMEs to be in the forefront of economic growth and recovery by providing appropriate technologies and technical assistance to improve the quality of their products and enhance production efficiency.

SMEs comprise 99.6% of the total Philippine enterprises and generate 70% of national employment.  But SMEs contribute only 32% to the country's gross domestic product that places the Philippines second to the lowest rank in productivity share among Asian countries.

"We have been trying to push the economy from the top, but to move the economy faster, we also need to push from the base," she stressed.  Large firms contribute a fraction or 0.4% of what SMEs contribute in terms of employment.

What seems to be lacking is a workable strategic development goal that would make Philippine SMEs performance at par or better than Asian counterparts in terms of value added, employment, number of establishments, and export value, Alonzo added.

DOST Secretary Estrella F. Alabastro pledged to continuously support SMEs competitiveness by developing technologies suited to local SMEs' needs.

SET-UP has so far allocated a total support grant of P698.4 million as of last year to 906 firm beneficiaries for the acquisition of modern production equipment and in upgrading the quality and marketability of their products.

But it is a very small amount of what DOST's program should be getting to support the development of SMEs, she emphasized.

"We have dealt with this reality by refocusing our efforts towards developing a more vibrant national innovation system that looks at complementation of efforts and resources among various stake holders such as the private sector, government, and the academe," Alabastro added.

DOST works with DTI in carrying-out its National SME Development Plan in the areas of product development and technology intervention.  Other DOST agencies that provide product development services and technology interventions are the Industrial Technology Development Institute, Technology Application and Promotion Institute, Metals Industry Research and Development Center, Forest Products Research and Development Institute, Philippine Textile Research Institute, and Packaging Research and Design Center of the Philippines.