20 July 2011
Women entrepreneurs and retailers stand a better chance of getting their business off the ground as the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and softdrink giant, Coca Cola Bottling Corporation signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) which seeks to empower women to become better entrepreneurs.
The MOA binds TESDA and Coca Cola together with the Provincial Government of Palawan to jointly undertake a program called, Coke-TESDA National Convergence Program on Empowering Grassroot Retailers and Entrepreneurs. The program will hone the business skills of and prepare women especially those engaged in retail business to manage successful ventures.
TESDA Director General Joel Villanueva signed the MOA with Jose Bayani Baylon Vice President for Public Affairs and Communications of Coca Cola Export Corporation and Palawan Governor Abraham Kahlil Mitra.
Villanueva explained that the training shall focus on women. He said, "Women mean business."
"There are many stories of businesses successfully run by women. The classic examples are the small sari-sari stores that mushroom in communities managed by housewives who manage to not only take care of the household but also earn for the family," he pointed out.
On a larger plane, Villanueva said that women retailers while part of the informal sector have now become drivers of the economy and the community.
He added that the skills training and assistance to be provided by TESDA, Coke and the Palawan Provincial Government under the program will help enhance the skills they already have.
Under the agreement, the Palawan Provincial Government will identify participants to the training and provide the venues while TESDA subject matter experts will conduct the training and administer the assessment of the participants.
Coca-Cola, on the other hand, will shoulder expenses that would be incurred in the implementation of the entrepreneurship training program.
A technical working group will prepare a work plan for the implementation of the program including identifying pre and post training activities.
The program hopes to develop and implement a sustainable and scalable small business support model for women retailers and micro-entrepreneurs which can be replicated in other parts of the country learning from the Palawan experience.
“We should offer women entrepreneurs opportunities to grow their businesses and create jobs particularly in these tough economic times," he further stressed.
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