DTI to implement project to help women entrepreneurs

Department of Trade and Industry Central Visayas (DTI-7) Director Aster Caberte. / CDN File Photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines–The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will implement this year the Gender Responsive Economic Action for the Transformation (GREAT) Women 2 project.

Aster Caberte, regional director of DTI in Central Visayas, said GREAT Women Project 2 is a governance and capacity development project. It aims to promote and support a gender-responsive enabling environment for women’s economic empowerment, particularly those in micro enterprises, Caberte said.

The GREAT-2 project would focus on women micro entrepreneurs, she said.

The project aims to establish linkages with selected small and medium enterprises for markets and technical partnership compatible with value chain development, Caberte explained.

“The Department believes that with the business sector expected to be the main engine of growth, enhancing women’s empowerment through the GREAT Women project becomes indispensable in achieving inclusive and sustainable growth,” she added.

The project also intends to promote women’s economic leadership and empowerment so that women attain the benefits from entrepreneurship.

GREAT Women 1 was implemented through DTI and other government agencies and the local government units in Ifugao, Quezon, Metro Naga (Camarines Sur), Bohol, Leyte, IIoilo and Davao Sur.

The GREAT Women 2 project will focus more on scaling up women-led mictobusinesses in high growth priority industry subsectors.

The P334.9-million project funded by the Canadian government also aims to build the capacity of more public and private development institutions to address specific barriers that keep women from growing their businesses in specific industry clusters./dcb