The Department of Science and Technology – National Capital Region (DOST-NCR) is calling on returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to take advantage of its iFWDPH (Innovations for Filipino Workers and their Families) program to realize their business ideas.

During the Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas spearheaded by the Philippine Information Agency in Quezon City on Tuesday, DOST-NCR Director Romelen Tresvalles said the program offers OFWs business training, technical support, and even funding support.

“Itong programa naman na ito, ninanais natin na yung ating mga OFWs pag umuwi sila dito, pwede silang mag-establish ng sarili nilang technology-based business (Under this program, we want OFWs to be able to establish a technology-based business when they return to the country),” she said.

Tresvalles said the program holds capacity-building activities where interested applicants explore business ideas and the needed competencies, and the provision of documentary requirements for starting a business.

She said the DOST also provides funding support of up to PHP500,000, at zero interest rate, for the purchase of equipment.

Since the program began in 2020, about 810 OFWS nationwide have undergone DOST training, with 91 having availed of the funding, creating 129 jobs.

Tresvalles said the program, done in coordination with the Department of Migrant Workers, supports business ventures in various industries, among them agriculture, food processing, manufacturing, and ICT services.

The iFWDPH Program is open to OFWs who have returned to the Philippines in the past two to three years.

Interested OFWs can email iForwardPH@ncr.dost.gov.ph for inquiries and applications. (PNA)