The Department of Trade and Industry is the executive department responsible for promoting and regulating Philippine trade and industry, with a mandate centered on deregulation, trade liberalization, and industrial growth to support job creation. Over time its mandate expanded to cover micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), a category that today includes most registered startups.

DTI runs a nationwide network of Negosyo Centers offering business registration assistance and micro-financing programs, and — under the Innovative Startup Act (RA 11337) — administers the Startup Support Program (SSP), which provides direct financial support to registered startups. It also runs the ON3 Technology Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program.

DTI additionally oversees the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) as an attached agency, linking trade policy directly to the tax-incentive zones many tech and BPO companies register under.

🇵🇭 Philippine Example

DTI's Startup Support Program, created specifically by RA 11337, is a real, currently-operating grant mechanism distinct from DOST's own Startup Grant Fund — the two agencies run parallel, not identical, funding programs under the same law.

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