The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Philippine Center of Entrepreneurship Foundation Inc. (PCE) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to enhance and green micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
Signing for the DTI is Regional Operations Group (ROG) Undersecretary Zenaida Cuison-Maglaya and Executive Director Ramon Lopez for the PCE.
Also present during the MOU signing are Bureau of Small Medium Enterprise Development (BSMED) Officer-in-Charge Director Jerry Clavesillas and Dr. Volker Steigerwald, Project Manager of the Promotion of Green Economic Development (Pro-GED).
The DTI signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the PCE and Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) to provide supportive input and information to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and enhance their competitiveness by including the Green Economic Development (GED) approach in their businesses.
Present during the MOU signing were DTI-Regional Operations Group (ROG) Supervising Undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya, Bureau of Small Medium Enterprise Development (BSMED) Director Jerry Clavesillas, PCE Executive Director Ramon Lopez, and ProGED Project Manager Dr. Volker Steigerwald.
Undersecretary Maglaya said that mainstreaming, enhancing the competitiveness, and greening the MSMEs are some of the initiatives of DTI for MSME development.
“It is really important that we look at ways and means to make our SMEs more competitive through the Green Economic Development (GED) strategy and mainstream the learnings in programs catering to MSMEs,” Maglaya emphasized during the MOU signing.
The DTI-ROG Undersecretary added that such partnership would enable the MSMEs to become competitive and world class, especially with the growing number of established Negosyo Centers, which provide mentoring program for entrepreneurs.
Through this partnership, the DTI with the help of GIZ, will enhance the messaging of PCE events with GED approaches, sensitize participating entrepreneurs on topics of Green Economy/Green Growth, and provide inputs in the form of general information and basic capacity building on green business strategies.
Meanwhile, the PCE through the Go Negosyo will include GED in the PCE Enterprise Summits, Negosyo Seminar (NEGOSEM) activities, Go Negosyo Building Enterprise Students for Tomorrow (BEST) events.
Further, DTI and PCE shall jointly ensure that the objectives of the MOU are met and their respective undertakings are performed effectively and efficiently, and asses the quality and outcomes of the cooperation.
Lopez asserted that with the PCE’s assistance, entrepreneurs will learn to have a more sustainable way of doing their businesses and become environment-friendly, adding that their business “is something that they (entrepreneurs) could take to the next level.”
“The PCE has been consistently helping in nation building through entrepreneurship development, creating an entrepreneurial culture, the right mindset and especially the know-how competencies of SMEs,” Lopez said.
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