In every business model, there are key players and members who work together to achieve the company’s goals. The same situation happens in the Go Negosyo advocacy. Go Negosyo works as an accelerator which will encourage innovation, communication and collaboration. Go Negosyo will be the middleman in finding ways to connect industry to industry, organizations to organizations, but more so, problems to solutions. We are the bridge that improves the connection of public and private institutions towards MSME development.

After sealing our partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry, I met with Department of Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol to discuss how we can integrate Kapatid, Angat Lahat project to the agriculture sector. We talked about the current status of our farmers. He mentioned to me his model for Kapatid where a 5,000-hectare land in Mindoro where farmers are planting rice can be grouped as one cluster which will get funding from a local government (for example Landbank of the Philippines can provide the local government units the needed funding). The plan is to have a service provider for the processing and a supplier of hybrid seeds and fertilizer. He also shared the plan of re-designing the AgriPinoy Trading Centers (APTC) which was made in 2010 to become an avenue for small fishermen and farmers to sell and market their products.

Aside from providing a ready market for the farmers, the AgriPinoy Centers were used to provide market information and improve the entrepreneurial skills of the members of the agriculture sector. This is where Go Negosyo be a partner for development. I suggested that Go Negosyo provide the needed mentorship for our farmers. We know most of them have not received the proper training because of poverty. And in order to develop their skills and inculcate in them the entrepreneurial mindset, we plan to bring in agri-entrepreneur mentors who can teach them how to scale up and improve their productivity.

After our meeting, I can share the good news that the DA secretary supports the Kapatid, Angat Lahat initiative and look forward to how we can further develop programs for the agriculture sector.

Aside from the Department of Agriculture, we also met with DHL Express Philippines led by their country manager Yati Abdullah. DHL has been a partner of Go Negosyo for MSME development since 2013. For our new partnership, DHL will provide the ease of international shipping for micro, small, and medium enterprises in the country. As part of the Kapatid program, DHL promises to help MSMEs expand their market globally and gain access to their network of 220 countries and territories. They will provide the DHL Express Easy box, an all-in pricing product on international export delivery of parcel shipments, to all DTI-registered MSMEs.

Yati also mentioned DHL would be involved as a mentor in international express shipping in Negosyo centers and provide basic shipping guidelines.

Yati shared, “Our aspiration, as a global leader in logistics, is to help small businesses connect with potential customers anywhere in the world and to demonstrate to them that they don’t need to be big to compete globally. Having a clear understanding of their competitive strengths and specific shipping regulations of the countries they would like to penetrate, they can break through any border and make the world their market.”

For the past few weeks, I have been meeting with corporations and fellow entrepreneurs to seek their support for Kapatid. As you all know, we do not receive any monetary support from the government and I, as the presidential consultant for entrepreneurship, do not receive any salary or allowance. We are seeking the support of all partners in order to roll out Kapatid nationwide.

Most recently, I met with First Philippine 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 and shared the Kapatid initiative that we are doing. After sharing the details of Mentor Me, Adopt-an-SSF, and Inclusive Business, all of them agreed to be part of the Kapatid initiative.

We need to have more mentors and partners in this first public-private partnership for MSME development. As what I have told our entrepreneurs, this is just the start of a long journey for inclusive growth. Together with our partners and entrepreneurs, we are building an enabling environment and creating a stronger entrepreneurship culture.