GMA, STAR partner with Go Negosyo

MANILA, Philippines -  The Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship (PCE)-Go Negosyo, together with GMA Network and The Philippine STAR, is set to mount the biggest women entrepreneurship event, called “Babae: Kapuso Ka ng Bayan!” – Go Negosyo’s Women Entrepreneurship Summit and Expo 2011 on March 4 to 6 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

The event will be held in conjunction with the celebration of the centennial of International Women’s Day.

PCE founding trustee and RFM Corp. chairman and CEO Joey Concepcion signed an agreement with STAR president and CEO Miguel Belmonte and GMA Network chairman Felipe Gozon for two of the country’s biggest media entities to be media partners for the event.

This will be Go Negosyo’s third Women Entrepreneurship Summit and Expo, and is expected to be the biggest with 40,000 or more participants, following the success of “Babae: Tagumpay ka ng Bayan” Women Summit last March 2010, which registered an unprecedented 20,000 participants in one day alone.

“As we continue to spread the entrepreneurship advocacy to women, who account for 70 percent of all business start-ups, this year’s event is centered on reinforcing the entrepreneurial spirit of Filipino women by enjoining them to develop a positive change in their mindset and empowering them with relevant entrepreneurship tools and concepts,” Concepcion said.

In an interview following the signing held last Tuesday, Concepcion said the forum aims, among others, to showcase successful women entrepreneurs and encourage other women to follow their lead.

“There is no doubt that entrepreneurship is the solution to poverty. We just have to make our women more confident and instill in their minds that they can do it. The challenge is not so much encouraging women to put up their own businesses, but for them to grow from being small entrepreneurs to becoming medium and large ones,” he added.

Concepcion also pointed out that it is important for budding entrepreneurs not just to go into business but to be able to differentiate themselves from the rest.

For his part, Belmonte said that as a media company, The STAR has always been supportive of worthy advocacies such as this. “We are taking part in this activity not only because Joey (Concepcion) is a friend but because we believe in his advocacy. We believe that entrepreneurship is one of the ways that will help the country break out of poverty,” he emphasized.

Belmonte pointed out that his late mother, Betty Go-Belmonte, was a successful woman entrepreneur herself, having started The STAR from scratch. “Women entrepreneurs have done so much to help our country. We are happy to honor them with this event,” he said.

Meanwhile, Gozon said that foreign nationals, particularly the Chinese, Koreans, and Indians, to name a few, have put up successful businesses in the country because they were trained all along to be entrepreneurs, not employees or managers.

“It is about time that we change our mindset and stop thinking of how to get employed. Filipinos, especially the youth, should start putting up their own businesses, even small ones, and our schools should inculcate this mindset in them,” he said, adding that GMA Network has always been an advocate of entrepreneurship.

This year’s Women Summit will be a three-day event that will feature different Negosyo topics in the form of plenary forums, seminars, and breakout mentoring sessions.

The opening ceremony is highlighted by the awarding of inspiring Filipina Starpreneurs, followed by a forum with the awardees. This will be followed by a series of talks and forums on interesting topics concerning women in entrepreneurship, smart parenting, family-work balance, nation-building and other women topics such as personality development and imaging, health and wellness, fashion and lifestyle, among others, plus program concepts from GMA Network.

There will also be an expo area where over 400 enterprises can showcase, sell, promote, and conduct live demos of different products and services that also present business model ideas and opportunities to attendees.

A fashion show is slated on the evening of the first day. Day 2 is Kapuso Day and features a forum with Kapuso celebrity negosyantes and a variety show as well as a series of presentations/shows from the health and wellness and hairstyling group, and skills development sessions/demos on the third day.