The Department of Science and Technology (DOST), with the Department of Migrant Works (DMW) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to strengthen their collaboration in providing innovation-based solutions for the sustainable reintegration of the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), as well as supporting their families in establishing science and technology-based enterprises.

Under the Innovations of the Filipinos Working Distantly from the Philippines (iFWD PH) Program, which was launched in 2020, the DOST will provide technical and financial support to returning OFWs and those who plan to create their own technology-based businesses.

"One of our programs is to provide for our fellow OFWs, and this iFWD PH Program helps those who want to return, those who have already returned, or their family members who want to start a business," DOST chief Dr. Renato Solidum Jr. said Wednesday in a joint celebration of the 2024 iFWD PH and Science FoodFest press conference in Binondo, Manila.

"We have business training for six weeks with the help of what we call technology entrepreneurs. When they pass the training, the next part is making a proposal for their business and how science and technology will be integrated into their business," he added.

Solidum said that once their business proposal passes and DOST thinks it will be profitable, they will provide funding of "50-50."

"50 percent to our countrymen and 50 percent to DOST. We start with P250,000 from them and P250,000 from DOST. They can grow it, and we have other programs to help them even more after three years," he said.

The DOST-allotted P250,000 support will be lent interest-free.

As per DMW's part, it will promote the said program for OFWs and their families through its various agencies and offices, such as the National Reintegration Center for OFWs, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Migrant Workers Offices, Regional Offices, Filipino communities, and associations, among others.

"I just like to reiterate our gratitude to DOST for this partnership, which is very important not only for our OFWs but also for their families," DMW Undersecretary Patricia Yvonne Caunan said.

"I like to echo what our good Secretary Solidum said earlier: It is very important for us to not only protect the rights of our OFWs but also protect their income," assuring that the DMW crafting financial literacy programs among OFWs and their families are nonstop.

"We cannot do it alone; we are very open, and we are very thankful to our partners, not only in government but also in the private sector."

Furthermore, she assured that the DMW continuously readies programs that will cater to the needs of the returning OFWs, especially those who plan to start a business.

"Our wish, as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said, is that going abroad will be an option for us Filipinos. I hope the time will come when the opportunities here are good and our compatriots will no longer need to go abroad," Caunan added.

Besides the MOU signing between the two government offices, the DOST also forged partnerships for the iFWD PH with private stakeholders, including the Global Filipino Movement and Online Micro Sellers, Inc.