With the success of the Kapatid Mentor ME Program in 2017, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) looks to capitalize on its accomplishment and pick up where it left off as the program which is intended to assist micro and small enterprises in scaling up their businesses will continue for year 2018, aiming to reach more entrepreneurs in the countryside.
While reaching out to MSMEs, the Kapatid Mentor ME Program is also expected to contribute to the administration’s Trabaho, Negosyo Agenda—by producing more entrepreneurs, resulting to jobs for Filipinos.
DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez said the Kapatid Mentor ME Program has sparked an entrepreneurial revolution in the countryside by empowering micro and small enterprises that will benefit the community through job creation.
“The Kapatid Mentor Me (KMME) Program is driving the entrepreneurial revolution in the Philippines. More importantly, this revolution is happening in the countryside,” said Lopez.
“With the goal of helping entrepreneurs attain the mindset and business know-how, they need to sustain and scale-up their businesses. This program empowers MSME business owners—particularly in the provinces—and helps them create jobs that benefit the whole community.”
Philippine MSMEs account for 99.5% of the total number of establishments and employ 62.8% of the country’s workforce, contributing substantially to the country’s manufacturing output and total employment, making them critical engines of economic growth and development.
Kicking off in 2016, the Kapatid Mentor ME Program aims to assist MSMEs in scaling up and sustain their businesses through weekly coaching and mentoring by business owners and practitioners on different functional areas of entrepreneurship. The program is jointly undertaken by DTI and the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship – Go Negosyo.
In 2017, DTI assisted 24,078 individuals, including 17,144 MSMEs and graduated 1,780 Micro Entrepreneurs throughout the country. The program also was able to certify 426 mentors, who will handle the modules and the mentoring aspects.
Sec. Lopez also highlighted the importance of the Department’s partnership with PCE-Go Negosyo and local government units (LGUs) throughout the country.
“To sustain this growth, continued collaboration between DTI, PCE, and local government units is essential. Our goal now is to develop competitive MSMEs and create a culture that recognizes their contribution to the economic growth of the country,” he said.
The 2018 Kapatid Mentor ME sessions kicked off last February 13, 2018 in Ifugao and will run in 16 regions throughout the country until September 2018.
The 11-week program will have weekly modules such as Marketing, Financial Management, Human Resource Management, Operations Management, Business Law, Taxation, among others. On the 11th week, the mentee is required to present his/her business improvement plan, incorporating the learnings from the lectures and mentoring sessions.
To qualify as a mentee, the entrepreneur should be a business owner or manager of a micro/small enterprise operating for at least one year.
