Department of Science and Technology (DOST) officials encouraged housewives, mothers, and other women in San Pablo City, Laguna to become entrepreneurs and contribute to the country’s readiness for the coming ASEAN economic integration in 2015 during a technology forum last June.

The forum titled “Communicating Science Through Relevant Technologies for Women Entrepreneurs” which carried the theme Pinay: Angat sa Kaalaman, Abot-kamay ang Kaunlaran, was held at San Pablo City’s DLSP Gym in cooperation with the City of San Pablo City Women’s Confederation and other organizations.

Ma. Fe B. Singson, DOST-wide Gender and Development program manager, encouraged women in the audience to go into business by stressing the fact that women of today have the chance and abilities to gain employment or become businesswomen and earn money on their own while fulfilling their roles as mothers and wives. What is important, she said, is having access to knowledge.

Dr. Aristotle P. Carandang, chief of the Communications and Resources Production Division of DOST’s Science and Technology Information Institute (STII), provided further encouragement by assuring the audience that there are equal opportunities for women in the science and technology community in the Philippines, including the field of education.

To gain knowledge of these opportunities, Singson told them to check out DOST’s website (www.dost.gov.ph) in order to learn about the Department’s services and programs for entrepreneurship, including SETUP or Small Enterprises Technology Upgrading Program.

SETUP is DOST’s centerpiece initiative for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) which aims to improve their productivity and market competitiveness via funding, equipment upgrade, manpower training, packaging assistance, and other services.
“The progress of San Pablo is in your hands,” Singson stated in her message during the forum.

The promotion of women entrepreneurship is aligned with efforts to prep up the country for next year’s ASEAN economic integration, added Dr. Carandang, “so that the large economies will not devour the small entrepreneurs and instead, these MSMEs will be able to compete on the global stage.”

Exhibits and clinics were also held in conjunction with the technology forum. Featured were DOST initiatives and technologies involved in organic fertilizer production, wine making and processing, vegetable-based flour processing for noodles and bread, tilapia processing, healthy street foods, charcoal briquetting, water lily processing for handicrafts, and others.

The event was a collaboration between the local government of San Pablo, DOST IV-A regional office, STII, and the Technology Application and Promotion Institute, another agency under the DOST system. (S&T Media Service)

Women folk from San Pablo City in Laguna fill the DLSP Gym for a techno forum on “Communicating Science Through Relevant Technologies for Women Entrepreneurs” held last June. The forum was organized by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Region IV-A office, DOST’s Science and Technology Information Institute and Technology Application and Promotion Institute, and the Local Government of San Pablo City, Laguna. (S&T Media Service)

A representative from the Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI) discusses flour processing for vegetable-based noodles and bread in front of a group composed largely of women. The activity was part of a two-day event last June which promoted women entrepreneurship in the city of San Pablo in Laguna. Titled “Communicating Science Through Relevant Technologies for Women Entrepreneurs,” the event was organized by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Region IV-A office, DOST’s Science and Technology Information Institute and Technology Application and Promotion Institute, and the Local Government of San Pablo City, Laguna. (S&T Media Service)