Aspiring Small and Medium Enterprises
(SMEs) in the Davao Region can increase the chances of setting up their own
businesses through the SME Roving Academy.
“The SME Roving Academy is a machinery for
information, communication and knowledge creation of Philippine SMES which aims
to guide existing or aspiring entrepreneurs establish their own business or
sustain existing ones,” Romeo Castañaga of the Department of Trade and Industry
said during Monday’s Kapihan held at SM City Annex.
Castañaga said that with the launching of
the SME Roving Academy during the 1st Philippine Investment
Conference (I-Con) in Davao City last June, entrepreneurs can expect a package
of interventions to help them start or sustain their businesses.
While the Conference aimed to showcase the
investment opportunities in the country, it also aimed to steer interest
towards the cluster based industrial development strategy to fasttrack
countryside growth and development. He said they targeted 600 participants to
the Conference, but achieved a 200% attendance with 1,050 participants during
the two-day Conference.
He said the package of interventions will
include the startup support to help the would-be entrepreneur to choose the
appropriate business given his interest, skills and resources. If the
entrepreneurs has decided to push through with the business then we will
provide registration support, he added.
Also included in the package of
interventions for the SMEs are product development, skills training, management
and marketing training, entrepreneurship training and financing. The support
will extend to helping the entrepreneur maintain or sustain the business or
even go into export, he added.
