P&G, DTI ink deal for microbusiness development

Leading consumer goods company Procter & Gamble (P&G) has signed a memo­randum of agreement with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to pilot “Angat Kita”, a micro-entrepreneur development program that will equip sari-sari store owners with fundamental entrepre­neurial knowledge, skills, best practices and business seed capital.

Angat Kita, which directly translates to “increasing sales” and “uplifting you”, aims to help interested sari-sari store entrepreneurs realize their full potential to generate income, sustain livelihood and ulti­mately uplift their current status. Participants will need to attend a series of training workshops developed by P&G retail experts before graduat­ing and gaining access to seed capital to put to practice what they learned.

Using its wide distribu­tion network, P&G hopes to introduce the Angat Kita program to thousands of micro-entrepreneurs and have them enroll at the DTI Negosyo Centers nationwide.

The pilot will be rolled out in Mandaluyong City and 4 other locations within the next few months.

The growth and devel­opment of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) has always been recognized by P&G as a critical engine for sustainable and inclusive economic growth in the Phil­ippines. Locally, P&G part­ners with over 3,700 SMEs for their local supply chain, while hundreds of thousands of sari-sari stores are their micro-enterprise partners in serving Filipino consumers.

In the past, P&G was quick to support the two-year rehabilitation of the over 4,000 public markets stalls, kiosks and sari-sari stores devastated by Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) as a meaningful and inno­vative way to help affected Filipinos, restore their liveli­hood and jumpstart the local micro-economy.

The company also hosts SME Leadership Colleges all over Asia, hosting its first one in September 2015 in partner­ship with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). The forum was attended by over 150 high-po­tential Filipino SME entrepre­neurs and leaders identified by the DTI and DFA, with the goal of sharing knowledge, best practices and mentoring from P&G’s global business leadership experts. P&G is gearing up to host its 2^nd SME Leadership College in the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in November 2017.

“P&G has a unique capability to contribute specifically in the area of leadership development. As a humble enterprise that started small and grew to one of the leading and lasting FMCGs globally, we take seriously our social responsibility to cultivate the next generation of successful entrepreneurs,” says P&G Asia Pacific President Magesvaran Suranjan.

Angat Kita will focus primarily on small-sized sari-sari store owners and help them level-up to medium-sized sari-sari store owners. In addition, with women comprising 9 out of 10 sari-sari store owners, P&G and the DTI hope that the program will also help uplift women in society and enable them to be productive entrepreneurs while still being great mothers and homemakers.

“Our objective really is to educate and offer opportuni­ties,” says Department of Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon M. Lopez. We also realize that not all aspiring entrepreneurs attending our seminars would have ready business models. This [Angat Kita] is one of the ways to give them a ready alternative business model.”

Angat Kita will enable many Filipinos to take part in inclusive economic growth under this administration. It supports the implementation of the “Go Negosyo Act,” a law authored by Senator Bam Aquino, which aims to foster development, promote inclusive growth and reduce poverty by encouraging the establishment of MSMEs. The act mandates municipalities to establish Negosyo Centers to provide assistance and support to MSMEs, and facilitate ease of doing business.