CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-Central Luzon is sustaining its Kapatid Mentor Micro Entrepreneurs (KMME) program this 2020.
Citing the huge gain in market share, knowledge in entrepreneurial management and trade fair sales of the mentoring program of DTI in the past years, the agency vowed to continue the program to benefit qualified entrepreneurs in the region.
DTI-Central Luzon Director Judith P. Angeles said the agency and the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship will again partner in conducting a series of KMME runs in Central Luzon this year.
She said seven provincial offices of DTI will each conduct a KMME session that will have at least 20 mentee entrepreneurs, with a minimum target of 140 mentees across the region.
Under the KMME program, Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) that will qualify for the program will undergo a 12-module course in the different aspects of entrepreneurship under the mentorship of industry experts, successful businessmen and members of the academe, Angeles said.
She said that in 2019, KMME graduates from Central Luzon accounted for 97 of the 173 participants of the Likha ng Central Luzon Trade Fair, one of the most awaited trade fair events in the country.
Because of this, Angeles said the mentoring program graduates were able to widen their market by selling to institutional buyers and mainstreaming their products in retail malls, supermarkets and retail chains. Some of the MSME participants were also able to penetrate into the international market because of the presence of foreign buyers and "balikbayans."
The 97 mentees who participated in the 2019 Likha Trade Fair were able to earn a total of P5.8 million in the five-day fair held at the SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City.
"Most of the mentees were involved in the production and selling of processed food, home furnishings and wearables," she said.
Angeles also noted that the mentoring program is a holistic program that is meant to capacitate entrepreneurs not only in terms of efficiently producing their products but also in terms of being coached in areas like human resources, marketing, costing, taxation, entrepreneurial mindset and other aspects of entrepreneurship.
She said the next batch of KMME will commence in March 2020 so she is encouraging all interested entrepreneurs to contact the nearest DTI provincial office to learn on how to participate in the program.