Go Negosyo founder, Joey Concepcion, recently paid a courtesy call to Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary, Alfredo Pascual. In the meeting Concepcion discussed with Sec. Pascual the continuation of the non-profit’s partnerships with the DTI and possible collaborations to further promote the development of MSMEs.
Concepcion, who also serves as the Vice Chair of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Council, discussed with Sec. Pascual the role of digital transformation as an enabler for MSMEs, as well as the digital alliance established by Go Negosyo in 2019 and how it aims to teach MSMEs to use digital tools.
Also on the agenda was the continuation of the ASEAN Mentorship for Entrepreneurship Network (AMEN) Project, which was recently awarded a US$333,943 grant from the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund. This brings the legacy project of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (BAC)–Philippines to its second phase, wherein small entrepreneurs can scale up to the regional level, and the network of mentors is increased and expanded. “It is a great leap forward for the mentorship advocacy started by Go Negosyo,” said Concepcion.
Concepcion also shared Go Negosyo’s initiatives during the pandemic to keep the economy open and help MSMEs recover. For his part, Sec. Pascual expressed his desire to see and ensure that, during his term, more MSMEs will grow from micro to small, from small to medium, and, eventually, to become large enterprises.
“The health and welfare of our MSMEs will be crucial to the recovery of the Philippines from the pandemic,” Concepcion said. “MSMEs are more than 99 percent of the business establishments in the country,” he said. “On their continued operation rests the employment of 62.5 percent of Filipinos,” he said.
DTI has been instrumental in facilitating Go Negosyo’s programs, foremost of which is Kapatid Mentor Me (KMME), which has been responsible for mentoring more than 11,000 entrepreneurs all over the country since it began in 2016. Even during the pandemic the mentoring programs continued online using social media platforms.
Go Negosyo’s mentoring programs serve active entrepreneurs who are looking to scale up their businesses, and aspiring entrepreneurs who wish to begin their journey into entrepreneurship. Go Negosyo helps promote entrepreneurship among Filipinos by building on the three pillars necessary for success: money, markets and mentorship.