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It’s Science Week again and this year, DOST launches the OneSTore Hub during the virtual celebration of the 2020 National Science and Technology Week, to be live-streamed on the NSTW Facebook page on November 23, 2020,

The new OneSTore Hub welcomes the participation of the Agrizkaya Cooperative Federation that caters to the needs of primary cooperatives and is engaged in organic production and marketing of various products.

Joining the launch of Agrizkaya as OneSTore Hub partner are DOST Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña; Director Sancho A. Mabborang, DOST Regional Office II; Engr. Jonathan R. Nuetsro, Provincial Science and Technology Director-Nueva Vizcaya; Hon. Pepito D. Balgos, Municipal Mayor, Bambang, Nueva Vizcaya.; Hon. Luisa Cuaresma Congresswoman, Lone District of Nueva Vizcaya; and Dr. Nieto P. Bacena, Chairperson of Agrizkaya.

OneSTore Hub is part of OneSTore.ph which is an e-commerce web application that operates nationwide and caters primarily to Philippine consumers. It provides customers with an effortless shopping experience and retailers with simple and direct access to one of the largest customer-based platforms in the country. OneSTore is one of the flagship programs of the DOST that assists micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to improve their productivity and widen the scope of their target market.

Incidentally, Agrizkaya Cooperative Federation is named as the Diocesan Cooperative Development Council Inc. through the initiative of Fr. Paul Bollen, a Belgian missionary and Parish Priest. The Diocesan Cooperative Federation was formed as early as the mid-’80s and was formally organized on 31 July 1991. Today, Agrizkaya has a total membership of 54 primary cooperatives. Agrizkaya is located at Maharlika Highway, Almaguer North, Bambang, Nueva Vizcaya.

The Federation’s flagship program includes organic agricultural production, processing, and marketing. The federation availed of the assistance from DOST II that includes multi-purpose speed drying trays for fruits and vegetables, technical assistance for production lay-out, and SETUP assistance for the procurement of vacuum fryer for the fruit and vegetable processing. SETUP stands for Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program, one of the many initiatives of the DOST that supports MSMEs in terms of technical and financial assistance.

The launch of the OneSTore Hub will be part of DOST’s first-ever virtual celebration of the 2020 NSTW from 23 to 29 November with the theme “Agham at Teknolohiya: Sandigan ng Kalusugan, Kaayusan, Kabuhayan, at Kinabukasan”.

The DOST and the different agencies and regional offices will banner several activities that include a total of 27 virtual fora, workshops, career talks, technology and project launchings, and film showings that will highlight different innovative solutions and new S&T knowledge related to livelihood technologies and enterprise development, agriculture, health and nutrition, education, disaster preparedness, industry development, space technology, and community empowerment.