MANILA – The Philippine Startup Week 2026 opened at the Quezon City Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (M.I.C.E.) Center on Monday, aiming to connect local ventures with regional investors and partners as the Philippines hosts the ASEAN chairship this year.
In a statement on Tuesday, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Robert Joseph de Claro said the goal is for Filipino startups to compete in the wider regional market.
“We want our startups to see beyond the domestic market, to connect with regional partners, engage with international investors, and demonstrate that Filipino-developed solutions can compete and create value in the wider ASEAN region,” he said.
The four-day event, organized by the DICT, Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the Quezon City government through StartupQC, runs until Nov. 12. It carries the theme “Beyond Borders: Filipino Startups Navigating Our Future.”
As an ASEAN side event, the gathering provides a platform to connect Filipino startups with international founders, investors, and technology leaders.
DOST Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. said sustained government action and access to innovation resources are necessary to help startups scale.
“Navigating the future and breaking past traditional borders requires more than broadband; it requires strong and sustained action,” Solidum said.
DTI Secretary Maria Cristina Aldeguer-Roque said in a message delivered by Karl Lyndon Pacolor, officer-in-charge director of the Bureau of Policy Research and Innovation, that the government aims to help enterprises move beyond promising ideas toward sustainable businesses that can compete internationally.
Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte, whose local government partnered with the national agencies for the event, said startups are drivers of economic growth but require strong institutional support.
“Great ideas require strong machinery to prove a few of them and reliable mechanisms to keep them going,” she said.
The DICT currently chairs the Innovative Startup Act Steering Committee for 2026 and 2027, leading policy coordination and private sector partnerships with the DOST and DTI. (Raymond Carl Dela Cruz/PNA)
