DTI to hold more SME trainings

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI-7) announced it will intensify its campaign on promoting the growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) by conducting more SME Roving Academy in the region.

DTI-7 regional director Asteria Caberte said that a series of entrepreneurship briefing and sessions will be held in the four provinces in the region—Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor.

Briefings and sessions are geared toward enterprise creation and imparting more knowledge and information necessary in starting and running a business.

She said the SME Roving Academy, or the MSME Caravan in Central Visayas is part of the nationwide activity to improve access of micro-small and medium business players to government services particularly in areas where the provision of business development services may be limited.

Caberte said the agency will commission resource speakers who are experts in their respective fields.

In Negros Oriental for instance, DTI plans to conduct training and counseling sessions to promote entrepreneurship, improve access to markets, access to finance, and increase MSME productivity and efficiency.

The activity also aims to increase the awareness of MSMEs on various business development services provided by the government and private sectors.

MSMEs represent 99.6 percent of all registered businesses in the country and can thus be considered as the backbone of the Philippine economy.

The SME Roving Academy is a continuous learning program for the development of micro, small and medium enterprises to become competitive in the domestic and international (global) markets.

It integrates the business development services for SMEs at the national and local level, establishes the Provincial, Regional, and National Entrepreneurship Development Networks and manages an inclusive promotion program.

The program partners with Business Development Services (BDS) Providers;  Local Government Units (LGUs); Training Institutions; Chamber; Academe; Financial Institutions; Trade and Industry Associations; Other government and non-government organizations.

The SME Roving Academy project aims to develop SME business development services both locally and internationally.

The program consists of seven stages, together with the Export Pathways Program—“start-up and capability building, market awareness, market and export readiness, export market entity, export sustainability and export expansion”—which are mostly focused on increasing product and/or service quality for export. (FREEMAN)