12 MSMEs get P19-M assistance from DOST

TWELVE micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Negros Occidental received P19.1 million worth of assistance from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) through its Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SET UP) implementation last year.

In 2015, 10 new and two renewing enterprises have availed the agency’s Innovation System Support Fund (ISSF) assistance intended for facility upgrading and to help with their production income generation through improving their packaging and product quality, records at the DOST-Negros Occidental showed.

The recipient-enterprises are into food processing, metals and engineering, aquatic and marine, and gifts and house decoration manufacturing. These are: JNC Specialty Food Ventures Inc., New Wave Exporters Inc., Warlen Industrial Sales Corp., Kalibutan Society Inc., Aesha Frozen Foods, JCS Magic Food Products, Vivero Fishpond Farm, AJJJ Bakeshop, Mercanti Veneziani Trading, D’ Axial Engineering Works, and the renewing enterprises such as the Marchris Industrial and Engineering Supply and Tumandok Craft Industries.

This year, DOST has allocated P24 million in assistance for 12 enterprises in the province.

DOST-Negros Occidental Provincial Director Allan Francis Daraug had earlier said that recipient-enterprises, under the program, should have been existing for at least three years in the manufacturing industry authorized by the Department of Trade and Industry and with necessary permits from the local government unit.

The application process includes submission of audited financial statement and technology and project implementation sheet. Recipients will undergo technology needs assessment.

“Qualified enterprises should also submit a quarterly report or project information sheet to determine if it has generated jobs and improved the product quality and sales,” Daraug said.

In terms of payment, enterprises are given a one-year grace period before the start of payment within three years, he added.

“The agency will start collecting interest only after three years,” Daraug said, stressing that “we may pull out the equipment if enterprises fail to pay and have no improvement in their businesses.”

The DOST categorizes enterprises according to asset size – micro if the asset is P3 million and below; P3 million to P15 million for small; and P15 million and above for medium scale enterprises.

The financial assistance, however, does not depend on the scale, but on the need of the enterprise, Daraug added.

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