DTI aims to put in place 500 startup firms by ’20

THE DEPARTMENT of Trade and Industry targets to have in place by 2020 about 500 start-up companies, with a combined valued of $2 billion, as it seeks to position the Philippines as the next innovation hub in the region.

These start-ups, which are expected to have a total funding of $200 million, are also seen to generate some 8,500 jobs—a development that will help the government achieve its agenda of inclusive growth.

“There are stories of success in the Philippine startup scene. What we can do is to encourage these startups, link them to venture capitalists, and help them to improve their capacity to enter the global economy by creating an environment supportive of their persistence,” said Trade Undersecretary Nora K. Terrado.

With over 30 Filipino inventors holding 23 patents assigned to 12 foreign companies, the DTI sees startups as viable catalysts to the information era.

As one of its core objectives, DTI now aims to develop a new breed of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through innovation.

“As we define the innovation economy of the Philippines, we would like to focus on coming up with new breed of SMEs. It will not just be about digital startups, but we will also explore the field of agriculture, biotechnology, electronics, e-commerce, among others,” Terrado explained.

Based on the 2015 assessment of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Philippines climbed 17 notches to rank 83rd on the global innovation index.

Aside from the country’s impressive climb on the global innovation index, the Philippines’ strong compliance to the intellectual property rights protection also posed a viable qualification to be the next innovation hub in Asia.

On a regional scale, the country ranked second for both patent protection and IPR protection in 2014.

One of the country’s top Philippine innovations is the Salamander by H20 technologies, an amphibious flood faring utility vehicle.

As the world’s first amphibious tricycle, H20 Salamander is a six-seater urban flood utility tricycle that has two variants. One is an electric fuel and the other is powered by gasoline.

Driven by the global crisis on climate change, Salamander was developed to address the call for reduced carbon emissions and flood problems in the country.