Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are encouraged to avail of government’s trade-related training and services, including a program to reskill and upskill their workers as they gain entry to local and international markets.
Guia Roa Dionido, chief at Learning Delivery Services Division of the Department of Trade and Industry-Philippine Trade Training Center (DTI-PTTC), said that under the Advancement of Skills and Competencies of Entrepreneurs for Internationalization Agenda (ASCEND) Export, the Center has developed virtual learning site (VLS) for six courses related to export.
Dionido said the course topics include the rules of international trade, rules of origin for Filipino exporters, working with a pro forma invoice, reducing cross-border Inefficiencies, working with freight forwarders, and regulatory requirements to export food to the European Union (EU).
She said the VLS is an online platform co-developed by the International Trade Center (ITC) and PTTC-Global MSME Academy offering free courses to help managers of small businesses better understand the process of exporting from the Philippines.
Dionido said fees for the training programs under ASCEND Export are free if the company will do the self-paced, while digital workshop has minimal cost as it will be facilitated by a moderator and a driver, and the set-up can be discussed.
She said ASCEND Export is implemented by the ITC together with the DTI as part of the output of ARISE Plus Philippines which was funded by the EU.
Aside from these training programs, Dionido said the DTI-PTTC also has a modular training for specific sectors –farm tourism, processed food, medical tourism, furniture, fashion branding, animation, game development, and film production.
It also provides enterprise development training programs including business development, accounting and finance, human resource, product and business management, and operations management, she added.
Dionisio said they are aligning their module on training programs to the Philippine Skills Framework (PSF).
The PSF seeks to upskill, reskill and prepare human capital to adapt to the digital economy.
In the facilities and equipment utilization, Dionido said the enterprises or industries can avail of training and seminar space, event spaces, Studio 1300, DigiFab facility–FabLab, and food testing laboratories.