KMME-MME BATCH 2 LAUNCH AND ORIENTATION
July 2, 2021
DTI Regional Director Maria Elena Arbon,
DTI Regional Operations Group Undersecretary Blesila Lantayona,
Go Negosyo Adviser for MSME Development Engr. Merly Cruz,
Go Negosyo Programs Development Officer Paul Anthony de Guzman,
Esteemed mentors and mentees, guests, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon.
On behalf of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the Department of Trade and Industry Region 7 (DTI-7) for once again partnering with us in this entrepreneurial innovation.
It’s indeed a pleasure again to be seeing all our colleagues and partners from the government and private sector, as this event is an expression of our strong collaboration and commitment to helping the region to move forward especially at this time of the pandemic.
I would also like to thank the PCE-Go Negosyo management along with our accredited mentors who are deeply involved in capacitating our MSMEs through the KMME program as early as 2016 when DTI-Region 7 started it here in Central Cebu.
As our lives and businesses continue to take in the ill-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the KMME-MME online program becomes more relevant and necessary albeit in a digitalized form.
The target for this batch is very specific – our Travel and Tourism – an industry that has faced unprecedented setbacks due to the pandemic.
Tourism touches the lives of so many individuals, families, communities and small enterprises on a daily basis; but, we believe we can do even more to position tourism as a powerful force for economic growth and sustainability despite the pandemic.
The KMME-MME program pushes for tourism as it sees that this industry has great multiplier effect in promoting micro, small and medium enterprises and has a massive transformative power as its supply chain cascades deeply into our national economy.
Tourists, from the time they take off and arrive at a destination, they deal with logistics, resort, hotel and restaurant servers, food vendors, agri-based producers of many products within the area and makers of gifts and souvenirs, who are mostly from the MSME sector.
Its transformative power also helps in uplifting communities, creating business opportunities and building pride for people even in the remotest corners of our vibrant region.
It is encouraging to see that Cebu is now taking steps towards reviving domestic tourism with the rollout of vaccines and revolutionized marketing campaign, confident that it is ready to welcome back travelers.
Our government have also taken remarkable response to restoring and re-activating the tourism sector, while protecting jobs and businesses and many parts of the country are also now developing measures to build a more resilient tourism economy post COVID-19.
We hope that through this KMME-MME online program program, our micro, small, and medium enterprises will be inspired to adapt their business strategies in responding to the challenges of the new normal business environment.
Thank you!