Helping small traders package their products

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez gives a keynote address during Thursday’s entrepreneurship conference at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino.

DTI ROADMAP IN THE WORKS

In its bid to develop an innovative ecosystem for businesses in the Philippines, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is set to come up with a roadmap that would support the packaging needs of micro enterprises in the country.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said they hope to complete the roadmap as well as identify institutions, programs, and strategies to achieve this goal by the end of the year.

“The problem is that even when an entrepreneur has a product and idea for packaging and design, when it comes to ordering, there is a minimum order quantity,” he told reporters on the sidelines of an entrepreneurship conference organized by the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) in Cebu City on Thursday.

Lopez said that entrepreneurs, especially micro and small ones, could not afford the minimum requirements of some packaging companies.

“Let’s say I only need 1,000 just to test the market, but the company requires 50,000. I cannot afford that. This is where the gap is,” he explained.

While there are many institutions that help in improving the packaging of products by micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME), there are none that handle arrangements for packaging orders.

Under the proposed roadmap, a consolidator would take note of the similar needs of various MSMEs and make one order, lessening the cost for each entrepreneur.

Two agencies

Currently, two of the many agencies involved in the linkage for packaging improvement are the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), which helps in the material aspect, and the Design Center of the Philippines, which provides assistance on aesthetics.

Lopez said the DTI is also poised to increase the number of services it offers in terms of improving packaging design, although he did not elaborate.

“Products that are out there in the market, especially in tiangges, I am not happy (with the packaging). There are good ones, but they only make up 10 to 20 percent while the rest are average. Of course, we want to excel,” he said.

DTI and MSMEs

The trade chief said they want to continue challenging MSMEs while providing a support system that would level up this sector.
As the chair of Asean at 50, the Philippines’ priority is innovative and inclusive industrialization, which seeks to uplift every segment of society.

Innovation culture

Lopez said the DTI strives to create an innovation culture through initiatives such as the Negosyo Centers as well as programs in partnership with the DOST including the Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program.

MSMEs make up 99.6 percent of businesses in the Philippines and are responsible for 70 percent of employment generation, but only contributes 35 percent to gross value-added.

Lopez said the reason for this is that the country needs smarter entrepreneurs that take advantage of technology and innovation, whether in products or business processes.

“Innovation drives differentiation and is at the heart of any entrepreneurial activity,” he said.

MSME development

Lopez said Cebu has always been a source of innovation and creativity, particularly in furniture, packaged food, gifts, and decor, among other industries.

He said innovation is at the heart of the government’s industrialization strategy to achieve an entrepreneurship-driven economy and at the center of that is MSME development.

“We believe that any initiative empowering MSME can only mean elevating our growth story to greater heights,” said Lopez.