PALO ALTO - Filipino-American professionals based in Silicon Valley committed to help promote science and technology in the Philippines as they signed a memorandum of agreement with Philippine government officials during the recent visit of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo here.
Arroyo witnessed the MoA signing between Philippine government officials and the Silicon Valley-based Science and Technology Advisory Council (STAC), which was represented by its president, Christina R. Laskowsky.
The Philippine government was represented by Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila, and Science and Technology Secretary Dr. Estrella F. Alabastro.
The agreement underscores the need to monetize technology and encourage cyclical stimulation in promoting sustainability, protection of intellectual property, and investment in patents.
Other areas of cooperation will include efforts to commercialize research to promote Philippine self-sufficiency and drive economic growth; validate market opportunity of ideas generated from research; help access risk capital to further fund research and development, commercialization and marketing;
Provide investment banking expertise or access to relevant capital market environments; provide startup management assistance; facilitate improved business climate between private and academic entrepreneurs in the Philippines, Silicon Valley, and the rest of the world; and last but not least, promote the Philippines as an investment hub for research and development.
Laskowsky, a partner at Alquemie Partners LLC, said: “We are very excited about reaching this important milestone. STAC was founded almost two decades ago and the Memo of Agreement is a significant step forward in insuring that science & technology remains an area of importance with regards to the development of meaningful industries in the Philippines and globally.”
Nini Alvero, former Trade Commissioner of DTI here in the Bay Area until early this year, expressed the same sentiments about moving forward with the concept.
President Arroyo identified the need to institutionalize cooperation between the government and STAC as early as November 2008.
The agreement is intended to facilitate discussion and cooperation on matters related to science and technology education, and research and development that will bridge academe and business. These discussions and cooperation will help promote PhD-level research and innovation in the areas of science and technology.
STAC co-founder and managing partner of Tallwood Venture Capital, Diosdado Banatao, also briefed President Arroyo on STAC programs with educational institutions such as the University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, and De La Salle University, and with various companies engaged in the STAC expertise fields.
The San Francisco Philippine Consulate General, together with current trade commissioner Josephine Romero, spearheaded the drafting of the MoA and coordinated with relevant parties. Initial result of this partnership is that STAC will launch a research institute in UP.
In attendance during the signing at the Four Seasons Hotel in Palo Alto were Philippine Ambassador Willy Gaa, Consul General of San Francisco Marciano Paynor Jr.
STAC officials, Dennis Fernandez, chairman and managing partner of Fernandez & Associates LLP; Katrina Montinola, STAC secretary and vice president for engineering Archimedes Inc.; Denny Roja, general counsel for STAC and partner of Acuity Ventures LLC; Beatrice Duran, board member and former DoST regional director; Sheryl Bernardo; Angela Marie Cheng; and Huy Vu.
Founded in the 1980s, STAC represents a network of over 100 experienced professionals with expertise in important areas of science, technology, industry and finance in the government and private sectors.
During the past two decades, STAC has focused on advising public and private groups on technology-based industries, such as electronics, telecommunications, semiconductors, software, biotechnology, and health care. In these growing industries, STAC believes emerging economies such as the Philippines are faced with the exciting challenge of competing in dynamic global markets, as well as a real opportunity of establishing, over the long term, substantial bases for domestic industrial growth.
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