12 March 2021, Cagayan de Oro City—Local Economic and Investment Promotions Officer (LEIPO) Eileen San Juan, is set to share how the Cagayan de Oro Trade and Investment Promotions Center (Oro-TIPC) has been helping women entrepreneurs and other micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) ride out the pandemic by hitching onto the booming digital economy.

The online forum titled “Pinaypreneurs Rise to the Digital Challenge,” was organized by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Strengthening Urban Resilience for Growth with Equity (SURGE) Project, under the USAID SURGE Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative (WGDP) Initiative in collaboration with Globe myBusiness.

Completing the all-female circle for this fireside Q&A are Cathy Torremocha, City Administrator of Tagbilaran; Adelyn Yucamco, of the General Santos City Economic Management and Cooperative Development Office; Willem Ma, CEO of Masuki, the oldest and most famous noodle shop in Binondo, Manila’s Chinatown; and Roberta Abada-Estacion, Managing Director of Harem, Inc., a hair management salon.

LEIPO San Juan is set to feature Oro-TIPC’s initiatives to help MSMEs pivot, especially the Ginamâ Entrepreneurial Development Center for Women, which was launched last year with the support of USAID SURGE and the W-GDP, which capacitates women in business to compete, access financing, engage in e-Commerce and digital marketing, participate in trade fairs, and ultimately export.

Ginamâ, first opened last 15 June 2019, the 49th anniversary of Cagayan de Oro’s charter, as a business development and marketing center for Cagayan de Oro’s and Region 10’s MSMEs.

It is recognized by the Department of Trade and Industry as a One-Town-One-Product Philippines Hub (OTOP.PH), and is operated by a woman-led private sector partner.

Ginamâ Entrepreneurial Development Center for Women just launched its second round of workshops for MSMEs in Business Continuity and Recovery, Business Plan Preparation—two (2) prerequisites for credit access, Marketing through Social Media, eCommerce Websites and Digital Marketing, and Applying for Loans.

A small business information and research portal is currently being developed to serve as a repository of the knowledge materials from these workshops for MSMEs to access.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Strengthening Urban Resilience for Growth with Equity (SURGE) Project, in partnership with Lazada, is conducting a virtual “Orientation on Lazada’s Onboarding Process for MSMEs” on 14 January 2021, 2:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. via Zoom (register here: http://bit.ly/LazadaOnboarding011421).

This activity is part of the USAID-SURGE’s Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (WGDP) initiative for which Cagayan de Oro has been handpicked as one of only a few pilot cities.

During the orientation, MSMEs will learn about Lazada’s extensive market reach and how to take advantage of this online portal with a step-by-step guide on its onboarding process.

Participants will also get a chance to win free product photography services from Lazada.

CDO as CDI

Cagayan de Oro has long been a CDI (Cities Development Initiative) partner city of the USAID, one of only three (3) at the outset (with Batangas and Iloilo), joined by five (5) more (General Santos, Legazpi, Puerto Princesa, Tagbilaran and Zamboanga) in recent years.

Together, USAID through the SURGE Project, and the City of Cagayan de Oro, through the Cagayan de Oro Trade and Investment Promotions Center (Oro-TIPC), have worked together to promote economic growth, champion education, improve resilience, and support health.

Rise of MSMEs

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the plight and unique position of local MSMEs came to light.

While micro, small, and medium entrepreneurs (MSMEs) bore the brunt of the economic toll exacted by mobility restrictions and brick and mortar shutdowns, increasing reliance on local suppliers also opened up a wealth of opportunities for the humble but hulking sector (forms more than 99% of businesses registered on both local and national levels).

As early as 2019, USAID-SURGE and Oro-TIPC had begun focusing on MSMEs as a special attention sector.

In June 2019, the day Cagayan de Oro marked its 69^th year as a Chartered City, Oro-TIPC and the Region 10 Office of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), in partnership with a private operator, opened One-town-on-product Philippines Hub|Ginamâ (OTOP.PH|Ginamâ), a local MSME product showroom and store.

Later that year, USAID-SURGE and Oro-TIPC began training MSMEs in formulating business continuity plans (BCPs). With the advent of the pandemic in 2020, the partners quickly shifted to capacitating MSMEs for business success in the new normal.

This orientation is one of many such initiatives to push the MSME to level up and participate on the larger business stage with the end in view of promoting entrepreneurship as the ticket to better quality of life. n