ABOUT 170 micro, small and medium enterprises from the Cordillera will come together in Baguio City on September 21 to 22 this year to discuss issues and concerns affecting MSMEs in the region.
Dubbed as SME Summit, the event is spearheaded by the Regional SMED council and the Department of Trade and Industry-CAR.
The summit, according to DTI-CAR regional director Myrna Pablo, aims to provide a venue of knowledge sharing on opportunities for developing and resilient MSMEs. It is also expected that said summit will generate inputs and recommendations from local entrepreneurs for the crafting of a three-year MSME Development plan for the Cordillera Administrative Region for 2017-2022.
DTI Regional Operations Group Undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya will be the keynote speaker for the event. Other included resource speakers will be discussing the four outcome portfolios of MSME development. These include “Enabling Business Environment” and “Philippine MSME Development Program for 2017-2022” to be presented by Dir. Jerry Clavesillas, the officer-in-Charge of DTI-BSMED. The topic “Global Value Chain: Philippines’ Frontier to Trade and Investments for MSMEs” will be presented by Asst. Secretary Rafaelita Aldaba of the DTI-Industry Development Group as part of the first session on Enabling Business Environment.
On the second session of the first day, qualified speakers will tackle the leveling up of “SME Competitiveness: Technological Innovations”. Speakers from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) will discuss “Advancing MSMEs with Science and Technology” and the Gabriela Women’s Association of Abra will share a testimonial as a partner for the Shared Service Facility (SSF) program of DTI.
On September 22, the 3rd Session on Facilitating Market Access will have sub topics on “Food Safety Management System (Basic Food Hygiene and GMP)” by the Food and Drug Administration.
Selected speakers from Baguio and Benguet will also share their best practices and an interactive question and answer portion will follow. A session on “Innovative Financing” will have speakers from Landbank and Development Bank of the Philippines discuss their SME financing programs while the Small Business Corporation (SBC) will likewise present their financial support to CAR’s Priority Industry Sectors. (DTI-CAR)