ALBAY SME CARAVAN 2012

SME CARAVAN GOES TO ALBAY

Out-of-the box business ideas, eco-sense/eco-profit innovation, are just some of the new concepts and ideas introduced during the SME Caravan in Albay held last May 10-11, 2012 at the Concourse Convention Center in Legazpi City and attended by a total of five hundred and ninety-five participants from Albay, Sorsogon, Masbate and Catanduanes. The caravan seeks to promote entrepreneurship and introduce new business ideas to address SMEs’ common concerns relative to access and cost of business development services, access to finance, access to markets and productivity and efficiency. Spearheaded by the Bureau of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Development (BMSMED) and the Department of Trade and Industry Provincial Office, the activity brought together national government agencies and private sector institutions whose mandates and programs address the above issues. Several highly interesting and practical business topics were discussed by professional expert lecturers invited by the Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC) which co-partnered with BMSMED in facilitating the event. Credit Brokering Sessions participated in by four Financing Institutions namely: Small Business Corporation (SBC), Landbank of the Philippines (LBP), Camalig Bank and Rural Bank of Guinobatan (RBGI) were also simultaneously conducted during the two-day event. Among the topics presented on day one were on “Promoting Innovation: Guiding SME Clients on New and Out of the Box Solutions” and “Building Brand Value for Market Positioning” which were presented by Mr. Ricardo de Vera, a well-known international marketing guru; “Ecosense/Eco-Profit Workshop” facilitated by Dr. Delfin Mauricio and “Build Your Own Online Store” by Ms. Jonnadeth Coja of PLDT SME. Ms. Sarah de Leoz of IPO-Legazpi also made a presentation on Branding and Intellectual Property as part of the active advocacy/campaign of the IPO to encourage local businessmen to avail of the services of the office. On day two, the participants had a hands-on training on new novelty item designs as demonstrated by Ms. Lilia Agulto of the DTI-Cottage Industry Training Center (CITC). In the afternoon of the same day, the invited local financing institutions (FIs) presented their respective lending programs available for MSMEs. A total of 30 MSMEs were provided financing consultancy by the said FIs. At least two SMEs were able to submit their documentary requirements and were initially processed by concerned FIs on the same day. Apart from the presentation of topics and the credit brokering sessions, the participants also engaged in business networking among themselves. To mention a few results of the networking activity: one participant will supply his empty pili shells to Juboken Enterprises for the latter’s charcoal briquetting business, Canon Marketing Philippines will supply Noveno’s Pilinut Candy with Photocopying Machine on term-basis and other minor negotiations between and among the participants. As an additional incentive, the corporate sponsors Canon Marketing Philippines and Sun Cellular provided corporate give-aways that were raffled off to the participants. Major prize included two Canon printers.

ALBAY COCO COIR INDUSTRY UPDATES

COCO COIR INDUSTRY UPDATES in Albay The Department of Trade and Industry-Albay Provincial Office, through the Rural Micro Enterprise Promotion Program (RUMEPP) conducted a four-day Skills

Training on Coco Fiber Twining and Weaving last July 24-25 & July 26-27, 2012 in Barangay Tastas, Ligao City and Brgy. Cagmanaba, Oas, Albay, respectively. In Tastas, Ligao City, the training was conducted in partnership with the Local Government Unit of Ligao and Tastas Multi-Purpose Cooperative. A total of 41 participants, who are mostly members of the Tastas Multi-Purpose Cooperative, attended the training. During the closing ceremonies, Mayor Linda P. Gonzalez of Ligao City came over and promised the participants that the LGU will purchase or fabricate initial 20 units of twining machines in addition to the starter kit composed of 2 sets twining machines and 1 unit handloom provided by DTI, to be distributed to selected beneficiaries. Tastas Multi-Purpose Cooperative is a beneficiary of the Agencia Espanol Cooperacion International pare el Desarollo (AECID) assistance which provided the cooperative decorticating machine, truck and other equipment for coco-coir production, however, the plant is not yet operational pending power connection with the Albay Electric Cooperative. In the meantime that the plant is yet operating, Juboken Enterprises, which was hired as trainer for the above training, will initially supply coco fiber to the cooperative so that the trainees could already continue their livelihood on coco coir twining and weaving. In Cagmanaba, Oas, the DTI partnered with the US Dignity Products and Services, Inc., a new US-based company that invested on a multi-million integrated coconut processing plant in the area. The company will primarily engage in processing Virgin Coconut Oil, coco flour, chips from coco shell and eventually in coco-coir processing for export 100% to the US. It is due to start full blast operation within the year. The plant targets to utilize 16,000 pieces of coconut daily and plans to employ 150 direct workers. The DTI is also currently assisting the company in registering with the Board of Investments or at the Philippine Economic Zone Authority. The training was participated in by 36 group leaders from neighboring five coastal barangays of Cagmanaba and was conducted at the newly constructed facilities of Dignity Products. Given the enthusiasm shown by the participants, the company management decided to initially tie-up with Juboken Enterprises for the supply of coco fiber to the beneficiaries so they could continue with their learned skills on twining and weaving. The company also signified its interest on possibly partnering with Juboken for its Coco Coir Decorticating business. Negotiations between the two companies are on-going. The same training were conducted to the following groups and dates: August 21-22, 2012 - Caguiba, Camalig - 31 participants August 30-31, 2012 - St. Francis Resettlement Site, Camalig - 30 participants October 16-17, 2012 - San Vicente ARC, Oas - 40 participants October 18-19, 2012 - Balinad, Polangui - 54 participants October 23-24, 2012 - Batang, Ligao City - 37 participants October 25-26, 2012 - Balogo, Oas - 36 participants