“Women entrepreneurs can lead the PH rebound” – Concepcion – Manila Bulletin

“Women entrepreneurs have the potential to drive the country’s economic rebound.”

So said Presidential Advisor for Entrepreneurship Jose ‘Joey’ Concepcion III as he prepared to welcome women leaders and entrepreneurs to Go Negosyo’s 2022 Women’s Entrepreneurship Summit to be held online. Friday, March 11.

In a statement, Concepcion said women make up nearly 90% of micro and small businesses in the country.

He said empowering this segment of the population will be an important step as the Philippines begins its recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We need to inspire and motivate our female entrepreneurs,” Concepcion said.

The event already has nearly 15,000 confirmed attendees, with more expected as the event will be streamed live on the Facebook pages of Go Negosyo and its partners.

The founder of Go Negosyo said the Women 2022 Entrepreneurship Summit is timely, especially since women entrepreneurs can be a driving force in propelling the economy forward.

“Many of them have faced difficulties during the pandemic, especially in recapitalizing their businesses. But they have shown a lot of resilience,” he said.

He added that while Filipino entrepreneurs were already actively participating in e-commerce before the pandemic, the crisis has revealed gaps in their access to credit as well as sufficient training in digital technology.

Concepcion hopes that through the Women’s Summit, more Filipino entrepreneurs can be inspired by mentors and female leaders, as well as discover successful business models that they can explore.

Under the theme “Thriving in a Changing World: Women Leading the Way,” the summit features three events designed to inspire the next generation of female entrepreneurs to start their businesses.

The first is a virtual conference to discuss opportunities for women’s economic empowerment; followed by the Inspiring Filipina Entrepreneurs Awards which will recognize the achievements of 17 female entrepreneurs. The summit will be crowned by the Women Enterprise Enablers virtual exhibition, an exhibition of women-led businesses and partner organizations and a place to connect partner institutions and women entrepreneurs.

The Women 2022 Entrepreneurship Summit hopes to inspire innovators and entrepreneurs to start resilient businesses that aim for positive social impact using inclusive, innovative and sustainable business models.

Concepcion said empowering women entrepreneurs today becomes more urgent as the Philippines faces several threats to its recovery.

The rise in commodity prices caused by the Russian-Ukrainian crisis has dampened consumer spending, while the lingering fear of Covid is still slowing the return to normal activity. Meanwhile, small businesses are counting on the reopening of the economy to be able to repay the loans they took out during the shutdowns and restrictions of the past two years.

The government faces 12 trillion pesos of national debt. It is hoped that with the reopening of the economy, the country will be able to mitigate the effects of the crisis and earn enough revenue to repay its loans.

“We must remember that MSMEs account for more than half of the jobs generated in the Philippines. Their recovery is our recovery,” Concepcion said.