The Department of Science and Technology has given about P400,000 financial assistance to Orient Gifts Center in Dumaguete City for the technology upgrade of its sinamay-based home furnishings and fashion accessories production, a government press release said.

The DOST, under its Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program, provided the funds to the firm for its production machinery, a single computer-aided embroidery machine with embedded software acquired to upgrade and enhance the company's productivity that will yield quality goods.

DOST assistant provincial director Roslyn Tambago said the SETUP assistance addresses the company's struggles in embroidery production like in wallets, coasters, and wall decors.

With the assistance, the production utilizes only 15 minutes of working time instead of one hour. A single placemat needed one day to complete but now, it only requires an hour to finish. The production and quality of table runners and panuelos (neckerchief) are also expected to improve with the new technology, Tambago added in the press release.

Orient Gifts used to employ handlooms and the traditional method of weaving but with innovations and technological assistance from DOST, the weaving process is expected to deliver a 20 percent increase in the total production volume of sinamay, a leap from a mere 800 meters in a month to 960 meters, she added.

Orient Gifts has 26 workers, 10 of whom are direct employees and 16 are subcontractors, and most of them members of abaca-processing communities in the province.

The DOST has been encouraging small and medium enterprises or entrepreneurs to invest and avail of the SETUP assistance to boost their businesses, the press release added.*

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