CEBU CITY, Philippines — In a move to boost growth in the local economy, a German capacity building organization is pushing for the development of more business incubation facilities throughout the country.

“An incubator is a tool to help people start business successfully. It is a facility where start-up entrepreneurs begin their business, with the help of experts who will train them in effectively running and managing their firms. It is ideal especially for new businesses that lack funding,” said Franz Dietrich, economic adviser of Internationale Weiterbildung und Entwicklung gGmgh or Inwent.

Dietrich noted that the Philippines needs at least 200 business incubation facilities in the next 10 years.

He said that for emerging countries, setting up an incubation facility would need initial funding from the public sector of at least $200,000 with subsequent additional financial support coming to $60,000-$80,000.

All incubation facilities must be sustainable after five years, Dietrich said.

Dietrich said the Business Incubation in Southeast Asia or (Bizi) project was first launched in Thailand in 2003 then introduced to Vietnam in 2004 and the Philippines and Indonesia in 2006.

According to Dietrich, business incubation facilities is a fairly new idea among Asian countries but has already gained strong roots in Germany and other parts of Europe.

In the Philippines, there are four incubation facilities located in Nueva Ecija, focusing on agriculture and fisheries; Los Baños for power technology; while in Cebu, a technology business incubator is ready at the University of the Philippines Cebu College.