Micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) engaged in the tourism industry are being supported with the help of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) via its lending arm, Small Business Corporation, to further thrive in their businesses.

This was ensured by Trade Secretary Cristina Roque during the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco on Monday at the Department of Tourism office in Makati City.

“We want to ensure that trade and tourism are intertwined engines of economic growth. The MOA will institutionalize the undertaking of the DoT and DTI to strengthen coordination and putting tourism-like industry to participate in joint trade and tourism missions, and develop sustainable tourism-related enterprises and MSMEs development,” said Secretary Roque during her speech.

Further, she said the MOA will also enhance the competitiveness and market access of products and services locally and globally.

“This MOA will also promote investment in tourism-related infrastructure, business, and services in domestic and global platforms; and strengthen the country’s production of local talents and products in tourism-related facilities, attractions, and destinations. By working together, we are enhancing the synergy between tourism promotion and enterprise development. This convergence aims to foster inclusive growth, empower local industries, and unlock opportunities that are far beyond our urban centers and into the heart of our communities,” Roque stressed.

The MOA also facilitates access of tourism-related MSMEs to the SB Corp financing program, promotes tourism initiatives in the different stores nationwide, and supports the integration of Tatak Pinoy stores, auto stores, and other MSME stores nationwide and internationally.

Through the synergy between DTI’s various projects, the Tatak Pinoy, One Town One Product, and DOT's grassroots initiatives like the tourism rest areas, Roque said the MOA will be nurturing an ecosystem where the Filipino brand of service and excellence flourishes, which in turn drives sustainable economic growth, particularly in the countryside.

In return, DoT Secretary Frasco said they are delighted for the support of the DTI to tourism-related enterprises.

“This will give MSMEs to avail programs of the DTI, especially supporting the expansion of their livelihood and businesses. We anticipate that with this convergence of the DoT and DTI, tourism development programs will be further enhanced, especially our Philippine Experience Program in the marketing and presentation of our products from our MSMEs across destinations, and of course, the provision of the DTI in terms of the pasalubong centers in the DoT’s Tourist Rest Areas,” Frasco told reporters.