After a week of relentless rains, the brief respite became an opportunity for me to attend the DTI-Bagong Pilipinas Tatak Pinoy National Trade Fair 2025, held at SM Megamall’s Megatrade Hall last Friday. There, I had the honor of joining First Lady Louise Araneta-Marcos and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Cris Roque at the event. This year’s fair highlighted the incredible potential of Filipino craftsmanship, showcasing how sustainable raw materials – such as coconut, bamboo, native grasses and natural fibers – can be transformed into world-class products.

The fair stood in stark contrast to the reality faced by many entrepreneurs during the back-to-back weather systems that swept across the Philippines last week. On social media, we saw Filipino entrepreneurs braving the rains to keep their businesses going. There are vegetable vendors doing everything they can to keep their small stalls, literally, afloat, and online entrepreneurs still live-selling even as they’re waist-deep in floodwaters. One can’t help but be spurred to do more to help. As these kinds of weather disruptions can be expected to become more frequent, we have to aim for wide-ranging and impactful projects for our entrepreneurs. And given how fragile the old global economic systems have become, it is about time we strengthened MSMEs as the more sustainable and inclusive engines of our country’s growth.

So you can understand how the DTI-Bagong Pilipinas Tatak Pinoy National Trade Fair became the bright counterpoint to such a bleak week. Behind the rows and rows of well-made Filipino products is the DTI’s strategy to help Filipino MSMEs upgrade their processes, develop new product lines and integrate advanced production technologies. It’s designed to encourage our craftsmen to use modern technologies to create beautiful objects using local materials. The fair ran for quite a few days, which I think was plenty enough time for these innovative MSMEs to not just make a sale or two among casual visitors, but also, and more importantly, to connect with potential distributors, investors and exporters.

I was there, as always, to support Sec. Cris. These trade fairs are proof of how hard the DTI is working to help elevate our MSMEs to better function as the engines that drive our economy. These trade fairs are proof of the DTI’s dedication to elevating our MSMEs, allowing them to function more effectively as the driving force behind our economy. Holding these events in accessible public spaces is vital; it amplifies awareness and appreciation for the capabilities of our MSMEs, which is essential for their continued success.

And the impact is evident. The latest Pulse Asia surveys (conducted last June 2025) show comparative performance ratings of government agencies, and I would just like to share those of the DTI. Pulse Asia reports that during the survey period, the DTI achieved its highest quarterly increase in its approval rating since Pulse Asia started conducting the nationwide interviews on people’s rating of government agencies. As of the second quarter of 2025, the DTI’s approval rating is at 50 percent, the highest since November 2022.

Public perception is also now more definite. Meaning, there are fewer people with no opinion of DTI’s performance, and this group of undecideds now are at their lowest at 30 percent. Only during COVID did people have such a definite opinion. Having an opinion means either there is now closer scrutiny or better communication of performance. Either way, more Filipinos now approve of the agency’s performance.

DTI has been a long-time partner of Go Negosyo. Our long-running program Kapatid Mentor ME (KMME) was born of this relationship, and so was our public entrepreneurship roadshow, 3M on Wheels. We’ve achieved so much working with the DTI that we’ve since been inspired to cultivate similar relationships with the Department of Education, the Department of Tourism, the Department of Migrant Workers, the Department of Agrarian Reform, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Department of Labor and Employment and many more agencies. During the pandemic, it was the cooperation with the Department of Health and the Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the Metro Manila Development Authority, that made it possible to safely guide our workforce and the economy through the lockdowns.

And now with the ASEAN Summit in Manila barely a year away, we will see the partnership between the public and private sectors in the context of the regional stage.

I appreciate that Sec. Cris recognizes the vital role of the private sector in helping shape policy. She has pointed out how private sector’s insights are grounded in the realities of doing business. Beyond that, I appreciate how she sees the private sector as more than just big business, but a whole ecosystem that comprises it. It encourages us to work harder for practical, forward-looking solutions and to engage in continuous dialogue and cooperation.

Go Negosyo’s partnership with DTI has been fruitful. Our efforts in the last 20 years to promote entrepreneurship among Filipinos would not have been as successful if not for the collaboration with the DTI. But having a former entrepreneur like Sec. Cris now at the helm of the agency has brought it up a notch; the partnership between the private sector and the public sector has become phenomenal.

I think we both share the passion for helping our MSMEs scale up. That’s going to be very important as we also start scaling this advocacy to the ASEAN region. We want not just big business to grow, but also our small entrepreneurs. It will be a tall order and, of course, a source of tremendous stress. Especially now that public approval of the DTI’s performance is at a high. It’s not a job that needs to be done alone, though. The private sector will be there, rain or shine.

Originally Published in Philippine Star