Trade Secretary Cristina Roque offered to personally help small and medium enterprise 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 email 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 5th Quezon City International Business Conference on Friday.

Focus

Roque told MSME attendees that her focus as the DTI chief in the next three years, will mainly be 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,” Roque said.

‘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,” she added,

She revealed that during her recent travel to Davos, Switzerland, many foreign investors already wanted to come in and the DTI is already facilitating them.

FTAs

“There’s also a lot of FTA (free trade agreements) that we are preparing to secure 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 are 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.

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.