Small- and medium-scale businesses urged to tap government, private sector services

EXPERTS IN a symposium on “technopreneurship” and entrepreneurship education last year called on small businesses to take advantage of services offered by the government and industry groups to help boost the economy and create more jobs.

Nestor O. Rañeses, director of the Institute for Small Scale Industries (ISSI) of the University of the Philippines (UP), noted that in 2008, the National Statistics Office listed 762,000 micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), or 99.6% of the total. Of the figure, 697,000 (91.6%) were micro, 61,400 (7.1%) were small, and 2,800 (0.4%) were medium.

But over the last eight years, the number of micro and small to medium enterprises went down by 1.3% and 0.7% respectively, he noted. Mr.Rañeses pointed out that the crossover rate from micro to small and medium was 1-2%, which meant that micros were graduating at a rate of 1-2% to become small or medium enterprises or SMEs.

During the forum at the UP Diliman campus, Chancellor Sergio Cao challenged entrepreneurs to “operate locally but think globally” by constantly aspiring to be different and to perform better.

“There is a need to reach out to MSMEs so that they may attain utmost efficiency in order to thrive in the industry. It has been observed that there are many MSMEs that are slow in adopting technological change and so there is a need to educate them on productivity schemes,” he added.

Not just training

Clifford A. Paragua, executivedirector of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), said the state agency does not only conduct training to develop skills that will enable people to land jobs. TESDA is also involved in other activities that concern the acquisition of competencies that contribute to an individual’s holistic personal development.

Mr. Paragua said many of the more than 200 job qualifications covered by TESDA programs may be earned or pursued for entrepreneurial ventures. “Having relevant vocational skills or job competence, with an acceptable level of proficiency, is always a positive and plus factor for the success of any entrepreneur,” he said.

Nona Ricafort, then head of the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd), said there continues to be a mismatch between academic curricula and the job market demands, with graduates of higher educational institutions (HEIs) lacking skills needed to land a job.

To help bridge the gap, CHEd and TESDA are working to urge schools to adopt the so-called ladderized education scheme, which will allow the certification or recognition of units gained in TESDA-registered programs for equivalent credits under CHEd-recognized programs.

Support for ‘technopreneurs’

Undersecretary Fortunato T. de la Peña, a former director of the UP-ISSI, said the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) also has various programs, advocacies and services that are beneficial to Filipino “technopreneurs.”

One of them is “Filipinnovation” (Filipino and Innovation) which aims to execute national innovation strategies such as investing in human capital, research and development for technology, expanding technology business incubation services, regenerating the policy for innovation, and improving the Filipino mind-set regarding innovation.

To support technopreneurship start-ups, UP launched the Enterprise Center for Technopreneurship in February 2010. Luis Sison, UP vice-chancellor for research and development, said technologies represented at the center include an automated weather station, a fish pond system, Web-based data-mining, renewable energy, outsourcing software with hardware integration, consulting services, and electronics.

The privileges of being a “locator” are access to low-cost office premises, name and identity recall, networking with a pool of competent individuals and industry experts within the university, and exposure to potential clients and investors, he said.

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI)believes that from an economic development standpoint, entrepreneurs are essential as they bring emerging technology and risky innovations to the commercial market, thus developing a whole new range of industries in the process.

“The UP-ISSI is already delivering the same services to its stakeholders,” said PCCI Vice-President for Education Eduardo Guttierez-Ong.

The PCCI works with SME stakeholders and is building a national SME database, providing technology transfer, giving access to financing and marketing programs, and conducting business consultations. PCCI’s SME Development program also provides training and scholarships, he said. — UP Institute for Small Scale Industries