DTI, DOLE tie up in training OFWs become entrepreneurs

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) are collaborating in training overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to become entrepreneurs which will hopefully help strengthen the Philippines’ exporting capability.

“Export-driven economies such as the Philippines would need to build the capacity of entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs to enhance our exporting activities and boost the local economy,” said Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory L. Domingo.

The DOLE, through the National Reintegration Center for OFWs has tapped the DTI through the Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC) to organize a training package for overseas workers and encourage them to venture into business.

These free training sessions, which began this July, consist of key topics on how to start a business, entrepreneurial education activities where they learn the business cycle, market supply and demand, and selling as well as preparing the business plan.

A study by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) noted that overseas remittances could spur local development through entrepreneurship. The study also cited the role of government to provide support mechanisms to overseas workers and remittance-receiving families who are self-employed or who have entered into enterprises.

In 2010, the DTI, through the PTTC, has organized similar trainings for some 300 overseas workers in cooperation with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).

For this year, the PTTC training targets some 2,000 overseas workers as participants. The sessions will culminate with an activity on preparing the business plan. The best business plans will qualify for a start-up loan package from the Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines.

There are about two million Filipinos working abroad, majority of whom are based in the Middle East. The training sessions will assist returning OFWs affected by the recent political unrest in the region and reintegrate them into the economy. The government is likewise readying several other programs.

A study by the Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS) showed that the Philippines is one of the world’s largest labor exporters since the 1980s and one of the largest recipients of overseas workers’ remittances. In 2010, international remittances from abroad reached $18.8 billion, according to recent Bangko Sentral data.