Several people have espoused this idea for sometime now, that the way for our economy to flourish is to have increased entrepreneurship among the local populace. For one, the Department of Trade & Industry - Region XI has been doing its part by laying down the groundwork for startups to find it relatively easier to establish new businesses. Check out NERBAC for more information.

The sad fact of our current situation is that, most fresh graduates automatically think about employment, and never consider putting up their own enterprise. They instinctively polish up their résumés, instead of endeavoring to develop a business plan. Owning your own business just isn’t built-in in the Davaoeño psyche. I suppose it’s in the upbringing. But the economic environment also has something to do with this. I’m certain that there are plenty of young idealists out there who have sound business ideas. It’s just that young people aren’t very bankable, it seems.

But back to DTI-XI — that government agency that I truly respect — they actually have a funding window available to entrepreneurs. I’ll blog about this more in another post.

Another very hopeful development is this new program, the Technopreneurship Course, sponsored by the Australian government. This is an initiative by the Davao City Chamber of Commerce & Industry, in partnership with the Philippines-Australia Human Resource Development Facility, or PAHRDF. From what I’ve gleaned from press releases, this will be a 6-unit course that will be offered in Davao universities. The objective of this course is to enable students to think entrepreneurially (am I coining a word here?) and equip them with the tools for when they do decide to plunge into the world of IT business.

I guess this is one way to stave off our city’s perennial brain drain problem. One might argue that the situation is a chicken-and-egg problem: Which should come first, the entrepreneurs or the viable business climate? But I say, it is the businessmen themselves who should create this viability. Particularly technopreneurs, or enterprising businessmen (and women, of course!) who focus on the IT industry. Why? Because information technology is the country’s sunshine industry. It is the great equalizer, the arena where all players with enough initiative can consider themselves at par with everyone else. Or even better!