As the presidential adviser for entrepreneurship, I am in a unique position to work with the government and the private sector. It is my role to bridge the gap between the two sectors in order to work together towards achieving the common goal which is inclusive prosperity.

For almost three years, I saw that the partnership between the public and private sectors has resulted to great outcomes. One great example is the NAIA Consortium which is composed of conglomerates in partnership with the administration’s Build Build Build program. This is on top of the strong partnerships we have for our mentoring programs in collaboration with departments of Trade and Industry and Agriculture.

For the past months, we have been active in pushing for digitalization. We believe that digitalizing our micro and small entrepreneurs will help them succeed, that is why we have been talking with different online platforms offering wider money and market reach for MSMEs.

Just last week, we had a meeting with several ride-sharing and logistics digital platforms such as Angkas, Grab, Lalamove and Quad X, together with Transportation Secretary Art Tugade, DOTr Undersecretary Mark Richmond de Leon, LTO chief assistant secretary Edgar Galvante, and LTFRB chairman Martin Delgra III. The meeting is a follow through of our first meeting with the digital platforms last Jan. 9.

The insightful meeting served as an avenue to openly discuss the issues concerning the platforms, as well as the position of the respective agencies involved. We discussed the challenges faced by the platforms, most especially their operations in the country. With the emergence of these platforms, more Filipinos are empowered to become entrepreneurs in their own right. Some have quit their jobs to become riders, shoppers and sellers in these platforms.

We are grateful that Sec. Tugade also sees them as a game-changer. He shared, “digitalization is not only pro-poor, but pro-all. Digitalization is a great equalizer.”

While there is still an ongoing discussion on the operations of Angkas (which could affect other ride-sharing and logistics platforms too), Sec. Tugade said that he is not against any mode of transportation as long as it is efficient, safe, and comfortable. I also commend Sec. Tugade for creating a technical working group which will discuss and study the current policies and laws on these platforms.

I believe that with this meeting and the working groups created are indications that the government welcomes the idea of working together with private sector companies, more so digital platforms. This is indeed the way forward.

We are also tapping another government agency for our Mentor Me E-Learning, a 15-week online entrepreneurship program that we are doing with Singapore Polytechnic. We met with Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Secretary Isidro Lapeña to present this program and exploring the possibility of either integrating the Mentor Me E-Learning program in the curriculum of its Technical and Vocational Education Training (or TVET) courses in the day, or as supplementary materials for TVET students to study in the evening.

TESDA is also open to scout partnerships with companies on the digital platform which would allow TVET graduates to find more opportunities to work such as Gawin.ph and Zennya. As of now, they are currently running different trainings and programs for its technical and vocational education courses, although it has not yet explored going digital with its trainings.

With active participation and collaboration with government agencies, we in Go Negosyo aims to strengthen the current entrepreneurship programs that we have. We believe that with DOTr led by Sec. Tugade and TESDA of Sec. Lapeña as partners in the advocacy.