MSMEs - ORO TIPC

MSMEs: Key Business and Economic Sector

Data from the City Finance Department show that Cagayan de Oro recorded a total of 27,598 businesses registered as of 2019. Of these, over 70% are in wholesale and retail; over 20% in business and community services; with the rest in manufacturing, construction; agriculture, transportation and logistics, and power and communications.

99% of these are micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), employing 104,655 or 89% of all persons employed, and posting total sales of more than PHP52-billion.

Recognizing the enormous contribution and unmined potential of these diamonds in the rough, the Cagayan de Oro Trade and Investment Promotions Center (Oro-TIPC) is according this sector the special attention it deserves.

OTOP.PH|Ginamâ

On 15 June 2019, the 69^th Anniversary of the Declaration of Cagayan de Oro as a Chartered City, the City Government of Cagayan de Oro and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) cut the ribbon on One-Town-One-Product Philippines Hub (OTOP.PH)|Ginamâ, a showcase and market testing venue for local MSMEs located in the city's historical central plaza, Gaston Park.

The city manages OTOP.PH|Ginamâ via a tripartite partnership with DTI and a private operator led by a woman entrepreneur.

Pre-COVID Prep

Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the Cagayan de Oro Trade and Investment Promotions Center (Oro-TIPC) had been conducting a series of workshops, coaching MSMEs on preparing their Business Continuity Plans (BCPs).

The United States Agency for International Development's (USAID) Strengthening Urban Resilience for Growth with Equity (SURGE) Project pitched in under the US government's Women's Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative, initiating a transition to digital marketing and online platforms.

A series of value-chain analysis (VCA) sessions would have rounded out the year's opening salvo but these turned into rapid impact assessment (RIA) sessions when COVID-19 hit Philippine shores in the latter part of the first quarter of 2020.

Midstride gear change

Pivoting to respond to the demands of the new normal and the need of MSMEs to step up their game, OTOP.PH|Ginamâ, with its newly established Entrepreneurial Development Center for Women, and Oro-TIPC, supported by USAID SURGE's W-GDP Initiative, launched Bouncing Forward: A Mentoring Program for MSMEs focusing on: