BY: RIZALIE A. CALIBO
SIQUIJOR, July 15 (PIA)— The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-Siquijor province started mounting the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Roving Academy (SMERA) program to micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in all six towns in the province.
The activity will bring to provincial MSMEs learning programs designed to promote entrepreneurship, improve access to credit and markets, and increase productivity and efficiency, says DTI-Siquijor provincial director Nimfa Virtucio.
A series of seminars on financial management were conducted recently to local entrepreneurs in the food, gift, decors and housewares (GDH) and furniture industries.
Other lined up trainings for Siquijor are Green Tourism, Energy Audit, Packaging and Labelling, Food Safety Training, Pricing and Costing Training, Entrepreneurship, Values Orientation and Revitalization, and Waste Minimization in the Mnufacturing Process that also target aspiring entrepreneurs, graduating business students, returning overseas Filipino workers, women entrepreneurs and out-of-school youths as the beneficiaries.
These will capacitate the industry sectors in the province through learning sessions either through lectures or skills build-up integrating some aspects on greening, Virtucio added.
All these, she said, will be done in cooperation with the local government units, national government agencies, the academe, trade and industry associations and other government and non-government organizations.
SME roving academy program aims to develop MSMEs to be competitive not just in local, but also in the international markets.
The program is a partnership with MSME Development Council to provide MSMEs with “workshop-like training sessions” in the development of their operations.
It presses for “inclusive growth,” and gives attention and support to clusters and cooperative MSMEs in different parts of the country. (mbcn/RAC/PIA7-Siquijor)