In order for an organization to reach its goal, the key is the collaboration of all partners, members, and key players. In Go Negosyo’s mission of alleviating poverty through entrepreneurship, we have our partners who are working with us to push for our advocacy.

Recently, I shared the efforts done by Go Negosyo for the “Kapatid, Angat Lahat” initiative. This is the first public-private partnership of Go Negosyo and the Department of Trade and Industry, led by Secretary Ramon Lopez, for MSME development.

We are proud to say that both public and private sectors support us now through different agencies and companies.

I met with First Philippines Holdings Corporation CEO Federico Lopez, Magsaysay Group of Companies president and CEO Doris Magsaysay Ho, and Ayala Corporation chairman and CEO Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala. All of them agreed to support the Kapatid, Angat Lahat initiative.

Most recently, I also had a meeting with Sen. Miguel Zubiri, chair of the Committee of Trade, Commerce, and Entrepreneurship, Lance Gokongwei of JG Summit Holdings, Michael Tan of the LT Group of Companies, Chris Po of the Century Pacific Group, and Fred Uytengsu of Alaska Milk Corporation. These companies extend their support of MSME development through the Kapatid project.

We also had a meeting with Department of Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol to share the Kapatid initiative and how this project can be integrated into the agricultural sector. We will bring the mentorship program to the provinces for our farmers and fisher folk to enhance their skills in farming or fishing and develop their entrepreneurial skills in order to level up. This will be done with the help of our agri-entrepreneur mentors. After the meeting, DA Secretary Piñol expressed his support for the Kapatid initiative and looks forward to how we can further develop programs for the agricultural sector.

Longtime Go Negosyo partner DHL Express Philippines, led by their country manager Yati Abdullah, also partnered with us for Kapatid. DHL will provide ease of international shipping for micro, small, and medium enterprises in the country, which will help our MSMEs in expanding their market globally and gaining access to DHL’s network of 220 countries and territories. They will also be providing the DHL Express Easy box, an all-in pricing product on international export delivery of parcel shipments available to all DTI-registered MSMEs.

All these efforts and partnerships are aimed at developing our “small brothers” in the community. Together with our partners and entrepreneurs, we are creating an active entrepreneurship culture in the country!