Micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) development has been at the forefront of our entrepreneurship advocacy. We believe that in order to achieve the inclusive growth that we all aspire for, we need to equip our micro and small entrepreneurs with entrepreneurship education, training, and other means of mentorship.

For the past three years of President Duterte’s administration, my office as presidential adviser for entrepreneurship has been supportive of the mission of prosperity for all – meaning no one will be left behind. That is why, through Go Negosyo and its legion of public and private sector partners, we are all working hand-in-hand to make this mission become reality.

Mentorship has been at the core of these programs as we believe that with guidance of expert mentors, micro and small entrepreneurs will be able to propel their businesses to success and development. Our programs have gathered support from more than 700 mentors nationwide and partners from business and government sector such as the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Agriculture (DA), and Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), among others who are providing entrepreneurship education to our MSMEs.

One of our successful programs is the Kapatid Mentor ME (KMME) program in partnership with DTI. This program aims to help MSMEs scale up their business through a 10-module program done by weekly coaching and mentoring by business owners and practitioners on different functional areas of entrepreneurship.

In the recently concluded National MSME Summit of DTI and the MSMED Council, it was reported that 5,393 mentees have graduated from the program and have been equipped with additional knowledge and skills on how to improve their businesses.

Bernadette Salcedo, owner of Fun Cake Delights and Catering Services from Baguio City, shared, “With the help of KMME, I was able to acquire additional knowledge and training. Currently, I am now helping those aspiring MSMEs to be successful also. The program has helped my business more than I expected.”

Another success story of KMME is Charito Eudela, owner of Isay Dried Fish Dealer from Roxas City. She said, “Through KMME, I transformed our business from wholesaling to retailing wherein we penetrated pasalubong centers, trade fairs and most especially, we also got the chance to display our products in a mall in Roxas City. The program helped us in organizing our business.”

These are just some of the success stories we have gathered throughout the three years. Some were even interviewed and featured by different media outlets and it is our pride and joy to see them succeed.

Another program that has reached all regions in the country is the Kapatid Agri Mentor ME Program which we do in partnership with the Department of Agriculture. We aim to help agri-entrepreneurs through agri-based associations and cooperatives by capacitating them in various areas of business. Since its launch in 2017, KAMMP was able to bring the program in all 16 regions, successfully train more than 2,500 farmers, and produce graduates in close to 1,000 agri-based cooperatives and farmer associations.

Marlita Basilonia, manager of Kababaihan ng Dasmariñas sa Bagong Milenyo – Barangay Food Terminal from Region 4A shared, “Malaki po ang naitulong sa amin ng KAMMP dahil po na-enhance po ang knowledge namin tungkol sa pagnenegosyo. Yung mga bagay na hindi namin alam natutunan namin talaga at na-inspire po kami na bumangon talaga sa kinalalagyan namin.”

Aside from these, we also have the Money and Market Encounter which gathers KMME graduates of the region for a whole-day session organized to give them first-hand information on financial services, market, and digital platforms that they can tap to further grow their business.

Our free one-on-one mentorship program in malls has been rolled out in more than 20 locations and has benefitted more than 7,000 participants.

Every year, Go Negosyo organizes summits to provide large-scale mentorship which assists more than 50, 000 aspiring and existing entrepreneurs, academe and government enablers. We have prioritized themes on women economic empowerment and development, opportunities for our overseas Filipino workers, agribusiness, technopreneurship/digitalization, and recently, tourism development.

On top of offline mentorship sessions, we also have online mentoring using our Mentor Me app which provides guidance to our MSMEs anywhere, anytime.

These are just some of the programs that are available to help our MSMEs scale up. Since our MSMEs are considered as the backbone of our economy, we envision our country filled with successful and continuously growing entrepreneurs. Through entrepreneurship, there will be more jobs generated, livelihoods created, and poverty will be alleviated. We look forward to the success of these programs in the next three years of President Duterte.