BUTUAN CITY -- The nineteen participants of the Innovations for Filipinos Working Distantly from the Philippines or the iFWD PH Program of the Department of Science and Technology completed the first phase of the program entitled, the Capability Building for the Development and Management of a Technology-based Enterprise. Of the twenty-seven participants at the beginning of the training, only nineteen have completed the program.
The said participants are now part of the second batch of the program whose training and capability development started last June of this year.
Under Capacity Building, qualified Overseas Filipino Workers applicants shall undergo series of core business development trainings to prepare them to manage technology-based businesses and help them create their business plans.
Also included in this phase is the technology pitching of innovative products that are included in the DOST’s priority areas such as food processing furniture, gifts, decors and handicrafts, agriculture/marine/ aquaculture, and metal and engineering. They can also generate products that are related to information and communication technology, pharmaceuticals and health products, and halal products.
“Let us continue to learn. So far, this is the strongest batch with a high success rate. Congratulations for surviving phase 1,” DOST Caraga Assistant Regional Director for Technical Operations said during the culmination ceremony as he thanked the Department of Trade and Industry and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration in Caraga for their unwavering support throughout the implementation of the program.
Qualified OFW applicants who have completed and passed the first phase can proceed to Phase 2 where they will be given an Innovation-Enabling Fund or iFund for entrepreneurship and technical training, product development and market testing, operational consultancy services, initial laboratory testing, packaging and labeling design and execution for marketing testing, equipment and acquisition. (DOST Caraga/PIA Caraga)
