Malaysian SMEs visit UP ISSI, innovative PH counterparts

UP Diliman Vice Chancellor for Research and Development Dr. Fidel R. Nemenzo addresses some 22 guests from Malaysia, who represent small and medium enterprise owners, and government officers from the said country, in his welcome message in ISSI.

UP ISSI hosted some 22 visitors from the Malaysian Academy of SMEs and Entrepreneurship or MASMED of the Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) last 5 and 6 September 2017.  The visit was also made possible through a collaboration with SME Corp Malaysia and the Human Resource Development Fund (HRDF).

On behalf of the University, UP Diliman Vice Chancellor for Research and Development Dr. Fidel R. Nemenzo warmly welcomed the visitors during a short ceremony in ISSI and wished them well as they were about to tour laboratories or innovation centers located inside the campus as well as selected plant sites in nearby cities.

For her part, Che Asniza Osman, head of the training unit of MASMED and the delegation’s representative, said that their visit aimed to “(1) benefit [the] participants with business innovation exposure from a different geographical perspective, (2) share new developments of business innovation activities among entrepreneurs and (3) enrich [UP ISSI and UiTM’s] collaboration relationship.”

Meanwhile, UP ISSI’s officer-in-charge Rolando Ramon C. Diaz, in his message, expressed hope that the delegation would learn from the sites that were selected by the ISSI organizers.

For the industrial visits, the Malaysian delegates toured the following on the first day: Fabrication Laboratory of the UP College of Fine Arts, Pilot Food Plant of the UP College of Home Economics and the Thinklab at Sparklab Innovation Center in the nearby Teacher’s Village in Quezon City.

The delegates from Malaysia during their industry visit in known shoemaker in Marikina City Maritalia Manufacturing, Inc.

The second day saw the whole delegation touring Maritalia Manufacturing, Inc. and Sunlight Foods Corp.  Maritalia is the maker behind the Rusty Lopez shoe brand while Sunlight engages in the production of sweet preserves such as ube, makapuno, langka, and buko, which are used as ingredients for some of the desserts prepared in well-known fastfood chains and ice cream manufacturers in the country.

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