BAGUIO CITY – Assistance given by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in the Cordillera will continue to help start-ups succeed and contribute in boosting the domestic economy.
There is a need to help the businesses in terms of technical assistance, linkage, and in obtaining permits, according to Dr. Thelma Palaoag, project leader of the Technological Consortium for Awareness, Readiness and Advancement of Knowledge in Innovation (TARAKI) and in-charge of the University of the Cordilleras’ Technology Business Incubator (TBI) program.
“We need to strengthen the start-up eco-system in the Cordillera to increase the success rate because not all incubates take off,” she said in a briefing here Monday in time for the opening of the Cordillera Star-up Week from October 21 to 25.
Started in 2021 as the TARAKI program and was improved and became TARAKI 10 Eggs until 2023, the program has assisted about 20 start-up businesses here and Benguet province.
Of the total, Palaoag said at least three micro and small start-up businesses are slowly gaining fame including the Dulche chocolate.
“The consortium works closely with the different government agencies, it having been formed with funding from the DOST. We have a pool of technical persons who are deployed to assist the start-up and ensure their success. Also included in the support is the provision for linkage to fund providers,” she said.
Palaoag said they also work closely with the different TBIs of the universities in the region — Saint Louis University which is focused on engineering innovation; Benguet State University and the Ifugao State University for agricultural innovation; University of the Philippines-Baguio on arts and creatives; and the University of the Cordillera for Criminology information technology and forensic science.
“If the start-up businesses will progress, the economy of the area, and even the country will also grow that is why the government approved of the consortium to assist the new businesses grow,” she said.
University of the Philippines-Baguio TBI staff Avereen Tibalao said their clients are the older generation who still opt to undergo “incubation” or assistance in their field.
“After being assisted by the TBI, they must already have their business permit and their minds have been infused with the business mindset not just create their artworks,” she said. (PNA)