While the coronavirus pandemic has closed down several establishments and left many people without a job, Filipinos have shown resilience by finding new ventures through online selling. Seeing the growth of small-scale entrepreneurs online, the Department of Trade and Industry vowed to help them expand their online presence through financial assistance and training.
What is this ‘Reboot Program’ of DTI?
Just this week, DTI launched the ‘Reboot Program’ which aims to provide online enterprises with assistance – including free website development and loan packages for product development or packaging and production.
According to DTI Assistant Secretary Mary Jean Pacheco in a webinar, this program emphasizes better coordination of the private and government sectors in this time of health crisis. This will also promote the use of online payments like Gcash and Paymaya and explore how to get discounted rates for product shipping and delivery costs.
A big part of the ‘Reboot Program’ will focus on developing skills necessary for the online platform. This can be done through a series of panel discussions on topics that are vital in growing online enterprises, like online marketing and business management.
DTI aims to do massive upskilling on the digital skills of the Filipinos. While there will be no face-to-face implementation of this program, Pacheco is confident that the agency could tap a large number of MSMEs through Zoom and Facebook. They also plan to work with TESDA to further progress with the e-commerce industry.
In addition to this, DTI is also working with other partners like Google My Business as this free and easy-to-use tool is timely implementing a new MSME caravan that can really help online entrepreneurs reach more people and grow their business efficiently through the digital tools available.
