The Provincial Government of Cavite through the Provincial Cooperative, Livelihood and Entrepreneurial Development Office (PCLEDO) with Cavite Small Medium Enterprise Development (CaSMED), and Department of Trade and Industry-Cavite in partnership with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPhil) initiated the 2022 Cavite MSMEs Business Conference with the theme “One Strong Cavite MSMEs for Sustainable Global Innovation” on September 22, 2022 via Zoom Video Conference and Facebook Live. The objective of this conference is to intensify strong and sustainable MSMEs through business rehabilitation and innovations.
Atty. Khervy B. Reyes, Office-in-Charge of PCLEDO, congratulated the organizers and acknowledged the hard work and dedication of PCLEDO Entrepreneurial Team led by Ms. Liza Gabatan for making the conference possible. He then extended his warm welcome to all the partners and participants that took part in the said program. He also emphasized that in order to empower micro, small and medium enterprises, we must unite and poster stronger networks.
Meanwhile, Mr. Alvin S. Mojica, Public Administrator for Community Affairs, said that the Provincial Government of Cavite will continue providing and implementing initiatives, projects and activities that will support MSMEs in the province. He also mentioned that the mobile vending vehicle is already in its full operation to promote and market Cavite products throughout the province.
Following that, Ms. Teresita M. Leabres, Chairperson of Cavite SMED Council, noted that it has been 15 years since the MSMEs were organized and with this business conference, all MSMEs were able to gather and adapt new things and ideas for the development and expansion of their businesses. She stressed that acquiring and learning new things will enable the MSMEs to be globally competitive and they will move further making them the best entrepreneurs that we have.
Governor Juanito Victor Remulla gave an inspirational message saying that MSME is the backbone of our economy. He then reminded them that MSMEs are important to us, to the province and to the country.
Subsequently, Ms. Marissa C. Argente, Officer-in-Charge – Regional Director of DTI IV-A, introduced Ms. Emma Asusano as the keynote speaker of the event. Ms. Asusano went on to discuss the research study that they have conducted. Afterwards, she stated that they prioritize providing capacity building interventions and workshops to support the MSMEs to their digital journey to become global. They set out to develop a variety of activities and projects for them to adapt to digital transformation.
The program proper was divided into two parts – the first one is the discussion of various topics in relation to innovation and digitalization. The overview of the 2020 Cavite MSMEs Business Conference and the flow of the topic discussion were then presented by Ms. Liza Gabatan, head of PCLEDO Entrepreneurial Division.
Mr. Luis G. Banua, Regional Director of NEDA IV-A, presented the Ambisyon Natin 2040: Government’s Strategic Direction for MSME Development. that the more researches and innovation that we have, the more favorable it is for the MSMEs. He then expressed his hope for building a strong CALABARZON and improving the MSMEs to be more productive and market-oriented while meeting the needs of the stakeholders.
After that, Ms. Cheryl C. Ortega, Regional Director of DICT IV-A & IV-B, gave her insights on Innovation through Digital Infrastructure and stated that all of us are striving for innovation and having innovation equates to power. She then assured everyone that DICT will continue to develop and flourish innovation and constant development of ICT. This was followed by Dr. Kenny Bayudan as he gave a lecture on the role of the Intellectual Property System in Sustainable MSME Development. According to Dr. Bayudan, IPRs plays a significant role in MSME Sustainability as it avoids imitation and protects the image from being tarnished.
Ms. Alda Lou Cabrera, Senior Relationship Manager of RCBC Digital Enterprise and Innovations Group, showed and highlighted the concept of their company programs, its advantages and benefits to MSMEs which will help them in digital transformation.
Lastly, Dr. Edwin Lineses, Associate Professor III of DLSU-D, then imparted that MSMEs don’t need to be big and that strong, rather, they have to be fast in adapting to change utilizing the data to their advantage. He also reminded everyone by quoting “we don’t have control over what happens in the future, but we can control how we respond to things and situations.”
On the second session of the event, MSMEs Issues and Concerns were addressed by the following panelist, Ms. Gilda De Jesus, Provincial Director of DOST-Cavite, Engr. Joseph P. Gacosta, Provincial Director of DOLE-Cavite, Atty. Khervy B. Reyes, OIC of PCLEDO, Ms. Lorna E. Aviñante, Assistant Provincial Agriculturist of OPA, Ms. Elinia Imelda, Rozelle S. Sangalang, PTCAO Head, Mr. Ismael Fampula, Provincial Cooperative Development Specialist of CDA IV-A, and Mr. Vicente T. Hernandez, Branch Manager of Landbank of the Philippines – Trece Martires City. This discussion was moderated by Ms. Revelyn Cortez, Provincial Director of DTI-Cavite.
The 2022 Cavite MSMEs Business Conference was then concluded by Mr. Emerson B. Atanacio, President of National College of Science and Technology.
Highlights of the event were the raffle draws, funny awards and the success entrepreneurial stories of Mr. Michael Sandig and Ms. Roselyn J. Anova.
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