THE Provincial Micro, Small, Medium Enterprise Development (MSMED) Council of Negros Occidental will institutionalize the hosting of the regional summit to help sustain developments for local entrepreneurs.
This was decided after the council conducted an assessment of the 1st Negros Island Region MSME Summit held at SMX Convention Center Bacolod last July 19.
Mary Ann Colmenares, chairman of the Provincial MSMED Council, on Monday, July 31, said that based on the positive feedback of the participants and partner-stakeholders, they resolved that part of their action plan is to regularly conduct the “learning activity” every year.
Colmenares said the council will step up efforts in tapping participation from more government agencies vital in the development of MSMEs aside from the Department of Trade and Industry.
These agencies include the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, among others.
“Many enterprises in the region would like to venture into agripreneurship thus, we need to also create links with the DA,” Colmenares said.
She added that bringing the DOST to the summit would also address pressing industry concerns in terms of machines, which is one of the 7M’s needed for successful MSMEs under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
The council also recognized the importance of embedding ICT in helping entrepreneurs to innovate, especially in efficiently promoting their products in the market.
“We really have to maximize the available technology thus, we have been trying to incorporate ICT in our bid to further develop local entrepreneurs,” Colmenares added.
The one-day summit underscored both the government and public sector efforts in pushing for more innovative MSMEs in the region.
For 2018, the MSMED Council also plans to involve more participants especially those from the academe.
Colmenares pointed out that the students are the future entrepreneurs and that they should be trained and exposed to the industry early.
“Entrepreneurship starts from the school environment, we want to develop the younger generation of entrepreneurs and equip them with entrepreneurial mindset as early as now,” she added.