| 19 January 2012
Educating MSMEs for Business Success
For the past 25 years, the Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC), the training arm of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) charged with developing MSMEs to become successful entrepreneurs and exporters. has resiliently supported the business performance of these enterprises by sharpening their skills and knowledge to conquer the domestic and international markets.
Formed in 1987 through the partnership of the DTI and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) under a grant from the Government of Japan, the Center has to this day trained more than 200,000 participants in the field of international marketing, entrepreneurship, quality and productivity, international standards, food safety management systems, IT and e-commerce, foreign business languages, and trade exhibition mounting and participation. While largely based in Manila, the Center reaches out to MSMEs located in the various regions and provinces by bringing its training courses around the country in cooperation with all DTI regional and provincial offices.
For the delivery of the Center’s programs and trade-related events in Manila, the grant from Japan also provided the installation of world class exhibition and training facilities which have made PTTC a preferred venue for trade fair and convention organizers.
Tenaciously committed to the continuing growth and development of MSMEs pursuing business opportunities, PTTC actively collaborates with other DTI and government agencies as well as private institutions, NGOs and academe in various projects benefiting the country’s economic drivers as their growth contributes to a more promising economic future for the Philippines. Among the tie-up programs being conducted nationwide are: 1. Entrepreneurship Training for Repatriated OFWs with the DOLE thru the National Reintegration Center for OFWs, 2. Regional and Provincial SME Caravans with DTI’s Bureau of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development (BMSMED); 3. Entrepreneurship Development Trainings for MSMEs in cooperation with Bank of Philippine Islands (BPI), 4. Doing Business in Free Trade Areas (DBFTA) with DTI-Bureau of Export Trade Promotion (BETP) and Bureau of International Trade Relations (BITR) together with the Bureau of Customs (BoC) and Tariff Commission (TC), 5. Regional Interactive Platform for Philippine Exports (RIPPLES) with DTI’s BETP and Regional Operations Development Group (RODG), 6. and other MSME training programs requested from time to time by other organizations.
As PTTC embarks on the next decade dedicated to developing new entrepreneurs, it will continue to harness their skills and energies that will eventually translate into positive moral and economic values for a more competitive Philippines.
Another innovation that the Center has adopted is the integration of gender responsive strategies in all training activities to inject gender equality and to recognize successful women entrepreneurs thereby encouraging more female participants to set up their own businesses. In line with this, PTTC will hold a Symposium on 29 February 2012 (1:30 pm) entitled “In Focus: Women Entrepreneurs in the Business Realm”. Coinciding with its silver anniversary, the event shall showcase the success factors that contributed to the growth of model enterprises including best practices in managing time for business and family.
To ensure delivery of only the most relevant, well-crafted and quality training modules, PTTC applies thorough research in course development guided by extensively planned training needs analysis and review of previous programs. Its courses are delivered by a roster of highly-esteemed faculty who are experts in their respective fields. The Center invests in the quality of its trainers to come up with updated and relevant presentations to participants. Moreover, it goes beyond the classroom type of education as resource speakers and in-house training teams provide mentoring, advisory, consultation sessions, and video conferences to maximize learning opportunities of participants. It also accommodates requests for in-house seminars from various companies for human resource, systems and operations upgrading.
For more information about its programs and facilities including inquiries and requests, PTTC may be contacted thru Tel. Nos. 468.8962 to 69, Telefax Nos: 831.9988, 833.0809, 834.1341, 834.1350 with email address: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and website: www.pttc.gov.ph.
