The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Department of Science and Technology (DoST) are looking at innovation as a strategic tool to transform and upgrade the industries, generate more jobs and attract more investments in the Philippines.

In line with this vision, DTI, through its Bureau of Trade and Industrial Policy Research (DTI-BTIPR), conducted a public consultation in Davao City recently to present the strategies in implementing the Inclusive Filipinnovation and Entrepreneurship Roadmap. It was conducted in coordination with the regional offices of DTI and DoST in Davao City.

In the said activity entitled, “Gearing up the Regions for Industry 4.0 – Regional Validation Workshop,” inputs and recommendations on the newly-adopted industrial policy were gathered.

The said roadmap was initiated last year when DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez and DoST Secretary Fortunato de la Peña signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) during the two-day Inclusive Innovation Summit 2017 in Makati City.

Breakout sessions composed of the government agencies, industries, and academe were undertaken too during the workshop. Through these, constraints and proposed actions for the innovative ecosystem were identified.

A total of 104 participants from the national government agencies, industry cluster communities, academic institutions, business groups, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to business start-ups attended the public consultation and workshop.

Meanwhile, DTI Assistant Secretary for Industry Development and Trade Policy Group (IDTPG) Rafaelita Aldaba led the presentation of the inclusive, innovation industrial strategy (i3s) framework, as well as the Philippine current state of innovation during the activity.

The i3s is an industrial policy formulated by the DTI-Board of Investments (BoI). It is aimed at growing innovative and globally-competitive manufacturing, agriculture and services sectors while strengthening their linkages into the domestic and global value chains.

Aldaba noted that amidst the economic and global uncertainty, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) still recorded a growth of 6.4 percent from 2010 to 2017.

Furthermore, Philippines placed next to China (6.9 percent) and Vietnam (6.8 percent) at 6.7 percent in 2017. Contributory to this is the manufacturing resurgence which has been leading the country’s growth with an average of 6.6 percent from 2011 to 2016.

In the meantime, the report published by the Global Innovation Index revealed that the Philippines moved 23 notches higher, from 100th in 2014 to 73rd in 2017, out of 127 countries across the world.

This impressive GDP growth made the country as the “Asia’s New Economic Tiger.”

For the government, it was suggested to implement reforms or projects that would improve the ease of access to funding for MSMEs. Further, a creation of an innovation governance body that would converge, coordinate and oversee the innovation initiatives and related activities.

For the industries, it was suggested to establish strong linkages between big companies and small enterprises to improve the support capability and identify domestic supply chains.

Lastly, for the academe, the establishment of facilities in universities wherein students can develop or test their products/outputs before deploying it to the market was recommended.

“Through close coordination among government agencies and effective policy implementation, we could harness the potential of more Filipino innovators and entrepreneurs that will drive the country to a more competitive positioning in the global economic arena and improve the quality of life for all Filipinos,” DTI-Davao Regional Director Maria Belenda Ambi said.

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