Deadline set for submission of seafarers’ entries for the 2019 NRCO-ISP Business Plan Competition

CEBU CITY—Seafarers have two more weeks left to submit their entries for the business plan competition organized by the National Reintegration Center for OFWs (NRCO) and the Integrated Seafarers of the Philippines (ISP).

In an emailed press statement, Salome Siaton, regional director of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Central Visayas, said the NRCO and ISP have set the deadline of the submission of entries on September 6, 2019.

Dexter Paro, NRCO-7 regional coordinator, called on interested active or inactive seafarers and their families to finalize their start-up business plan proposals and submit it on or before the deadline. 

The 2019 NRCO-ISP Business Plan Competition is a special project for seafarers and their families of the NRCO, in partnership with the ISP.

The competition is open to both active seafarers, preferably those who are planning to retire from sea life, and inactive seafarers, who have been in the Philippines for not more than five years. 

“Both should be interested to venture into entrepreneurship,” Paro said.

Participants may join the competition in solo, duo or by group with a minimum of three members and a maximum of five. 

“Entrants, whether solo or those falling under other categories, must be Filipino citizens and should be 25 years old or older,” he explained.

Qualified seafarers, who are currently on duty but are unable to attend the presentation and coordination activities related to the competition must have at least one official representative, an immediate family member, who will handle all the tasks and activities required in the competition.

All types of start-up business plans are welcome except for those that hailed from the idea of a franchising business, which meant that entries should be original. 

The competition’s national winner will take home P500,000 grand cash prize. Other prizes will include P100,000 for the first runner up; P50,000.00 each for the second, third, and fourth runners up; and P20,000 each for the remaining national finalists.

Proposals could be submitted to [email protected] or at [email protected] or at the OWWA Regional Welfare Office No. 7 located at the 2nd Floor, DOLE-7 Building, General Maxilom Avenue Corner Gorordo Avenue, Cebu City. The NRCO could be reached at (032) 254-3199 or (0916) 317-1121. Other details of the competition could be accessed at www.facebook.com/dole.nrco and at www.nrco.dole.gov.ph.

The NRCO is under the supervision of the DOLE and the OWWA that is mandated to develop, promote and implement a national agenda on sustainable return and reintegration of OFWs. The ISP, on the other hand, is a non-stock and non-profit organization formed and established for the welfare of Filipino seafarers and their families.

To recall, the winner of last year’s business plan competition was an entry from Region 7. Nelson Mejia’s Metro Cebu Express, an alternative mode of transportation for Cebuanos, became the national winner in 2018.

Read: My Boat offers alternative to Metro Cebu land transport

Mejia is chief executive officer of the MCE Shipping Lines, which launched last year its fleet of passenger vessels named MyBoat, which ferries passengers from the City of Naga to Cebu City. /bmjo