HISTORY OF APEC CENTER FOR TECHNOLOGY EXCHANGE AND TRAINING FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES (ACTETSME)

The APEC Center for Technology Exchange and Training for Small and Medium Enterprises (ACTETSME) was established through the initiative of then President Fidel V. Ramos during the AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Meeting in Seattle, USA. The Center was envisioned to be a center that would harness the resources of APEC member economies to support the sustainable development and growth of SMEs in the Region. The ACTETSME was launched during the 1996 APEC-SME Ministerial Meeting and is the first regionwide facility for technology exchange and training. It was inaugurated on September 1996, in time for the APEC Leaders meeting in Manila. Former Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos issued the Administrative Order 196 for the establishment of the ACTETSME. Among the agencies of the Philippine government to contribute to the establishment of the Center where the University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB) that provided a portion of land at the Science and Technology Park; the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) through its donation amounting to PhP 38M for the construction of the ACTETSME building; and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for the provision of PhP 5M worth of office furniture, equipment and operation funds from 1996-2000. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) was task to provide the Center operational and financial management support as well as policy directions for its activities. The DTI-Bureau of Small and Medium Business Development (DTI-BSMED) entered into a negotiated consultancy contract with the University of the Philippines Institute of Small Scale Industries (UP-ISSI) and Small Enterprise Research and Development Foundation Inc. (SERDEF) for the management of the ACTETSME. Collarative projects with international and local agencies/institutions were undertaken with the management and administration of ACTETSME operations of UP-ISSI through its former executive Director, Dr. Fortunato T. Dela Pena, and Deputy Director, Ms. Sonia Tiong-Aquino. In July 1998, the DTI-BSMED contracted ACTETSME's management to the College of Economics and Management (CEM)-UPLB. Dr. Louie Divinagracia, under secondment from UPLB, assumed the position as Executive Director. In May 1999, the DTI-BSMED entered into a memorandum of agreement with the UPLB for the management of ACTETSME. Dr. Flordeliza Lantican was appointed as Executive Director from 1999-May 2002. However, due to budget cuts implemented by the Philippine government, provision of financial support from DTI was stopped starting January 2001. From 2001, the UPLB took over in providing financial support for the operations of ACTETSME. A proposal was prepared by DTI-BSMED during a Technical Working Group Meeting last March 2001 to turn over the ACTETSME's facilities and equipment to CEM-UPLB to give free hand to the latter in optimizing the utilization of the facilities and fully manage the operation of the Center. On December 2002, the UP Board of Regents approved the turnover of the management of the

ACTETSME to UPLB. The following year, May 2003, a memorandum of agreement between UP and the Linaheim Corporate Services, Inc. (LCSI) was signed, allowing the use of the ACTETSME building and facilities to accommodate the latter's training needs. In 2006, the management of the Center was transferred from CEM-UPLB to the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Extension. From July 2007 to present, ACTETSME became one of the offices under the Center for Technology Transfer and Entrerpeneurship.