The Department of Science and Technology (DoST) aims to help more micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and exporters adopt technological innovations to improve their products and services and market competitiveness, as it allots over P1.2 billion for its assistance program for entrepreneurs next year.

DoST Undersecretary for Regional Operations Sancho Mabborang said that for 2025, the National Expenditure Program has earmarked more than P1.2 billion for Small Enterprises Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP) assistance.

“With the support of the administration and our lawmakers, we are targeting to strengthen and expand our systems even further to cover more MSMEs and export firms,” he said during the recent National Export Congress 2024.

Mabborang said SETUP has already assisted 236 export firms with a total export value of P864 million.

S&T assistance

Since its inception in 2002, he said, the program also supported more than 157,000 firms and other science and technology (S&T) entities with various forms of S&T assistance such as the innovation hub and consultancy services with a total of P10.3 billion in project funding.

This has resulted in the creation of more than 300,000 jobs and gross sales of P96.7 billion based on data from 2002 up to the second quarter of 2024, he added.

Mabborang said that in 2021, the SETUP evolved to help the MSMEs transition to Industry 4.0 with the launch of SETUP 4.0 wherein technologies in artificial intelligence, machine-to-machine learning and the Internet of Things, among others, are being promoted for their adoption.

Digitalization assistance

“It should be pointed out that even during the early as well as the developing stages of enterprises, SETUP 4.0 will already start providing digitalization assistance appropriate to their needs. This may involve creating their digital presence or using basic and generic information systems that enhance the efficiency of their operations,” he said.

Mabborang said the department employs a targeted approach in providing assistance for each category based on the level of development of the MSMEs.

“This is how DoST through the SETUP 4.0 supports and nurtures MSMEs towards Industry 4.0. We look into their current level of development, come up with the appropriate assistance based on the assessed level, and nurture them to grow step by step until they reach their full potential,” he added.

Enterprise and industry-level strategies

Mabborang further said SETUP has enterprise-level and industry-level strategies to help MSMEs improve their operations and competitiveness.

“SETUP 4.0 intends to provide needed support to link our processors to our farmers, cooperatives and other possible raw material suppliers. We also intend to link enterprises to each other in order to explore B2B or business-to-business collaboration,” he said.