SUPPORT TO MSMEs. The Go Negosyo Center of DTI housed at the Davao City Investment Promotion Building gives support to the development of MSMEs in the region by providing them education and training, technical support and access to loans with low interests. (Alex D. Lopez/davaotoday.com)
DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Twenty micro, small and medium entrepreneurs (MSMEs) are set to complete a two-month course under the Mentor Me program of Go Negosyo under the Department of Trade and Industry in Davao.
The 20 MSMEs will graduate on August 1, said Ivy Uy, supervisory trade and industry specialist at Go Negosyo in Davao.
This is the third batch of MSMEs to complete training under the Mentor Me program. There were 20 MSMEs who graduate during the first batch and 16 during the second batch, Uy added.
Mentor Me program aims to help MSMEs scale up their businesses to penetrate markets in the region and the rest of the country.
MSMEs under the program also have the opportunity to join business matching sessions during promotions and trade fairs, Uy said.
Most of the MSMEs who joined the mentoring program are engaged in food and handicraft businesses, she added.
“In two and a half months, MSMEs are required to meet once in every week where they would listen to the lectures of mentors who are considered successful in their respective fields of businesses,” Uy said.
MSMEs will also study 10 modules and are asked to prepare their business improvement plans that will be critiqued by the mentors.
Additional capital
Uy said additional capital for the increase of production and expansion of business is the usual problem that MSMEs encounter.
She said the government has provided a facility that will help MSMEs go out from the usual high-interest loans that are being offered by loan sharks.
“Our lending arm is the Small Business Corporation and the P3 (Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso),” Uy said. P3, in particular, allows MSMEs to avail loans in the lowest interest rate.
In a press release on Tuesday, July 11 the DTI said an initial funding of P1 billion is already included in the 2017 General Appropriations Act for the P3 program that will provide financial assistance to MSMEs in the country.
The P1-billion funding is part of the P19-billion financing package for the MSMEs that will be released in the next five years.
Uy said MSMEs in Davao can avail of P5,000 to P100,000 loans with a an interest of 2.5 percent per month.
She added that DTI is also monitoring the developments of MSME businesses, particularly in production and marketing. (davaotoday.com)
