Lawmaker proposes RP venture capital fund for tech startups
By Erwin Oliva
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 16:54:00 04/29/2008
Filed Under: Government, Technology (general), Laws, Congress
MANILA, Philippines -- A lawmaker has filed a bill in Congress that proposes a Philippine venture capital fund designed to help technology startups in the country.
Representative Roilo Golez of the 2nd District of Paranaque said government should allocate at least P1 billion for the Philippine venture capital fund as seed capital to local technology ventures.
House Bill 1664, dubbed "IT Venture Capital Fund of 2007," noted that the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) will administer the fund.
However, funding will come from special appropriations made by the Department of Budget and Management taken from budget surplus, which will then be maintained by the science agency, Golez wrote in his proposed bill.
Sought for reaction, DoST Undersecretary Fortunato dela Pena welcomed the bill but said that the agency managing the fund should have "corporate personality with a mandate to invest," especially if this venture capital fund is invested by government as equity.
Dela Pena also noted that other sectors might see this as government competing with the private sector.
The Philippine venture capital fund will target technology startup companies engaged in "high-value technology e-services and products" based on criteria set by the DoST.
The target products and services include web portals, real-time messaging software, e-groups, online music and video sharing, blogging, animation, web design, video games, online gaming, data warehousing, among others.
The introduction to the proposed measure reads: "Undoubtedly, the small technology startups in the Philippines are well-positioned in the spawning development and is capable of growing at a rapid pace through the means available on the Internet or the world wide web that has created a global market for high-value technology services and products."
Golez said his bill aims to boost the country's competitiveness, which, he said, is a fundamental requirement stated in the constitution.
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