Two Cebu-based micro, small and medium enterprises have been “matched” with established businesses through the German-funded Promotion of Green Economic Development program (ProGED) of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
Ten other MSMEs are being eyed to benefit from the business-matching activities of ProGED before the program wraps up in October this year, said Esperanza “Hope” Melgar, DTI-Cebu industry development division chief.
Melgar said Growing Greens Farm in Busay, Cebu City will now supply EchoStore, a social enterprise that supports fair trade and “green” products that are locally produced.
“EchoStore was looking for possible suppliers of herbs and other vegetables. They are very, very strict about the supply being organically or naturally grown, so we referred them to Growing Greens Farm in Bonbon, Busay,” Melgar said.
As of yesterday, the farm has started growing enough herbs to supply EchoStore. It has already passed the green standards of the store, Melgar said.
A small community of weavers in Barili has also been matched with a local exporter.
Melgar said the Barili cooperative is already looking at sending its second batch of weavers to the exporter, who will train them to work with recycled materials.
She said both partnerships are expected to flourish this year.
Under ProGED, DTI-Cebu aims to increase awareness on green development, practices and technologies among 130 MSMEs in Cebu province this year.
“They do not know that there are greening practices that require little to no investments. These are just practices, like checking water lines and turning off lights when not needed, that many SMEs do not do, that can cut down on operation costs,” Melgar said.
MSMEs can also tap financial institutions for low investment technology such as switching to LED lights. As part of the program, the agency is building a database of green services providers or GSPs in Cebu.
When the program wraps up in October, the DTI will sustain its implementation by integrating it permanently in its regular activities for MSMEs, Melgar said.
ProGED began as a special project of DTI, in partnership with the German International Cooperation (GIZ) in 2013. The program was initially piloted in Cebu and
Bohol, but has since been expanded to the rest of Central Visayas region and six other regions.
As of February this year, the project has benefited about 480 enterprises in seven regions. The target is to cover all 18 regions in the country.
Melgar said MSMEs need to shift towards using green technologies and producing green products to cope with competition.
“If they (SMEs) want to stay competitive now, they have to shift. Greening enterprises is now not only a climate-driven shift, but also something that is market-driven,” she added.
Among the businesses that have adopted green technologies are those in the tourism, food processing and production, and gifts, toys and housewares (GTH) sectors.
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