PCE formulates policies to aid 'technopreneurs'

The Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship (PCE) is currently formulating policies and advocacy together with some government agencies in the Philippines to help the home-grown technology developers or techno-preneurs.

PCE board of trustee Vivienne Tan said there is now a move initiated by the foundation to nurture, or give financial, as well as technical assistance to the potential technology developers in the Philippines.

Although this move is still on the informal stage, she said it will greatly help the good technology developers to succeed and become world players, and encourage them to stay in the country, rather than going overseas to get employed by multinational companies.

PCE is a foundation headed by Jose Conception, and is currently helping military wives to get into business.

According to Tan, there are a number of Government Financial Institutions (GFIs) that can be tapped in order to help the potential entrepreneurs in the country, especially the technology related ventures.

In Cebu, software developers had long been calling the attention of the government to ask for help, as they are hit by the multinational companies coming here, getting their good talents.

Cebu Software Development Industry Association Inc.(CebuSoft) had been very vocal in expressing its disappointments over the government's effort to supposedly help the sector.

Homegrown, software developer Mike Jurado earlier said smaller software companies here are struggling for financial assistance as they are trying to expand and compete with the giants.

However, he said small techno-preneurs are often denied of their loan applications from different GFIs, as their requirements as even more strict than banks.