Gov't keen on promoting entrepreneurship amid ASEAN economic integration

CEBU CITY, Philippines - The Department of Trade and Industry is working on promoting entrepreneuship among Filipinos to take advantage of the integration of markets with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

"The challenge now is nurturing an innovation-driven entrepreneurship ecosystem that is consciously inclusive, open and inviting to those who want to participate but lack the means to do so," said Ceferino Rodolfo, assistant secretary for the Industry Development Group at DTI. Rodolfo spoke on Thursday before engineering students and budding entrepreneurs at the second IDEA Global Entrepreneurship Symposium organized by the Philippine Science and Technology Development Foundation Manila, Inc. and the United States Agency for International Development.

Ceferino said that among the efforts done by the government to promote entrepreneurship is the setting up of the Fabrication Laboratory (FabLab) at the Bohol Island State University, where would-be entrepreneurs and manufacturers and manufacturers can create prototypes of products they wish to introduce to the market. The FabLab, the only one of its kind in the country, was a project between the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Department of Science and Technology.

Through FabLab, Bohol manufacturers can create product designs through an open-source software which helps improve the product's marketability. According to JICA, the FabLab allows manufacturers to create prototypes of their designs faster, create scale models, illustrate graphic designs, combine local materials and mass-produce products.

Ceferino said the state needs to attract aspiring entrepreneurs into a "virtuous cycle of innovation and development, adding that the government is now focused on enhancing competitiveness, complying with commitments, intensifying communications and increasing collaboration among industries and partners to make the most out of the ASEAN economic integration.