Time flies fast when you are immersed in so many activities. And that is what we in Go Negosyo have been doing for the past nine years — focusing on our mission to empower every Filipino to be more entrepreneurial and work towards his or her success. We invited the entrepreneur community and the Agri Negosyo panelists/speakers and awardees to celebrate with us nine years of Go Negosyo with a thanksgiving dinner last Aug. 1.

Then New Zealand Ambassador Reuben Levermore partnered with us as we planned this dinner with our network of entrepreneurs, distinguished guests and advocacy partners. This dinner became a productive one as we also had a very enlightening mini-forum discussing the potential of a strong Philippine agriculture. We had Senator Cynthia Villar, Manny V. Pangilinan, Henry Lim Bon Liong and Tennyson Chen, who were so smart in presenting the bright business opportunities in agriculture and how one can develop more profitable operations in it.

Get your own
Go Negosyo advocate Senator Bam Aquino also graced our dinner as he shared with us the good news that the Go Negosyo Bill was signed by President Aquino. This is by far the fastest bill ever signed in our history. Senator Sonny Angara and Secretary Greg Domingo likewise found time to have some discussions with the entrepreneurs. Thank you to all those who share in the advocacy of sharing our successes and knowhow in order to build a country of prosperous and enterprising Filipinos.

I was also invited to be one of the panelists in PLDT SME Nation’s Future Talks, where we talked about how the Philippines should be ready for the ASEAN Integration in 2015. PLDT’s Manny Pangilinan and Penshoppe’s Bernie Liu were among the panellists as well. During the forum, I shared the power of branding. Companies should strengthen their brands to create a closer affinity with the consumer market, which will provide the competitive edge against imported ASEAN brands.