DTI’s Roque offers personal help for MSME exporters

Trade Secretary Cristina Roque offered herself to aid small and medium enterprise (SME) owners who would want to export their products.

“When we go abroad now, we (actually) do the large investments and we also do the SME export. There are many companies abroad that buy the products of the SMEs because there are a lot of SMEs abroad, so they cannot also buy the quantity that is given by the large enterprises. For all the SMEs here, if you're interested to export, please call me, or you can e-mail me, or you can message me, or you can visit me in my office and I'll be very happy to assist you,” according to the Trade chief during the 5^th Quezon City International Business Conference on Friday.

Roque told MSME attendees that her focus as the DTI chief in the next three years, will be mainly on international trade and foreign investments, consumer protection, and MSME development.

“Strategies for global recognition and success are not just a goal, but a call to action. It is a collective effort to showcase the ingenuity, creativity, and the world-class Filipino products and services. The foundation of this vision is firmly rooted in the Tatak Pinoy Proudly Filipino Act, RA number 11981, a landmark legislation designed to strengthen the Philippine industries. This act is a testament to our commitment to position the Philippines as a hub for high quality and globally competitive products and services,” Roque noted.

She revealed that during her recent travel to Davos, Switzerland, a lot of foreign investors who already want to come in and DTI will help facilitate them.

“There's also a lot of FTA (free trade agreement) that we are preparing to pass also and preparing to get things done hopefully before the end of the term of President BBM. The five pillars of the Tatak Pinoy Proudly Filipino strategy, human resources, infrastructure, technology and innovation, investments, and sound financial management. By supporting the local enterprise, this act aims to increase exports, attract investments, and enhance the Philippines’ position in the global value chain,” the Trade chief stated.

To date, the Philippines has only three FTAs, namely the Philippine-South Korea FTA which was signed on 7 September 2023 and entered into force 31 December 2024; the Philippines-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement signed in September 2006 and entered into force in December 2008 as well as the Philippines-European FTA signed in April 2016 which was then entered into force in June 2018.

Present during the forum were QC Mayor Joy Belmonte, Israeli Ambassador to the Philippines Ilan Fluss and officials of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.