A quick trip to a mall in Indonesia on Monday night gave President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. an inspiration on how to promote and improve local businesses in the country.
The Chief Executive saw a business model that may be adopted in the Philippines where Indonesia's micro, small, and medium business owners sell their products in a state-owned mall.
Marcos said in the last night of his three-day state visit to Indonesia, his counterpart, President Joko Widodo, invited him to go to Sarinah Mall, where local products are being sold.
"Last night suddenly, Pres. Widodo invited us to go to mall. Bago 'yung dinner namin, pinuntahan namin yung mall. 'Yung mall na pinakita sa amin, gobyerno ang may-ari," the President told reporters in a press briefing in Jakarta, Indonesia hours before he flew to Singapore on Tuesday.
"Ang produkto na ipinagbibili doon sa mall, lahat lokal, lahat MSMEs, lahat maliliit. Kapag masyado nang lumaki, hindi na sila pwede doon sa mall. Lilipat sila doon sa regular na mall," he said.
Marcos said the business ideas from Indonesia — Southeast Asia's largest economy — can be done in the Philippines.
"'Yun ang idea nila. So, sabi ko, baka pwede natin gawin sa Pilipinas," he said.
Marcos said the Indonesian president pointed out that small business owners must be taught about packaging, the target market, and doing a business plan.
Government data shows that micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) account for 99.5 percent of business establishments in the Philippines.