Geneva Activity Highlights E-Commerce’s Role in Boosting Phl Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

Assistant Secretary Arturo P. Boncato Jr. speaks on the role of E-commerce in boosting Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the Philippines.

03 May 2017 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND — The Philippine Permanent Mission to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva highlights “E-commerce’s role in boosting the Philippines’ Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)” as part of the Gender and Development (GAD) program held on April 24 at the Mission’s Conference Room.

The activity featured Supervising Assistant Secretary Arturo P. Boncato, Jr. of the E-Commerce Office at the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and was attended by over thirty Filipino community members, most of which graduated from the Philippine Permanent Mission’s Course on Financial Education and Entrepreneurship.

Assistant Secretary Boncato emphasized that “E-commerce helps MSMEs make goods accessible to the market, eliminating the need for a brick and mortar store.” He pointed out that E-commerce has become a “tool for financial inclusion making it possible for a person to use a mobile phone as a gauge of his capacity to pay and basis for securing loans.”

He also discussed several DTI projects to encourage Filipino people to engage in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), such as the Negosyo Centers where counselors provide guidance on starting a business and the Go Local Stores where MSMEs products can be featured in large, well-known malls/stores.

This is the second GAD activity of Geneva PM for this year. For more information, visit www.genevapm.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/genevapcg. END

Ambassador Maria Teresa T. Almojuela, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of the Philippines and Other International Organizations and Assistant Secretary Arturo P. Boncato, Jr. (middle), together with participants from the Filipino Community.