In partnership with the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation, the Department of Trade and Industry Region 4-A (DTI-4A) through the Negosyo Center and SME Roving Academy conducted a two-day training course on Business Continuity Planning for the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and the Negosyo Center program management staff in Calamba City, Laguna on 2-3 April 2019. The training program aimed to promote and develop awareness, appreciation, and understanding of the business continuity management concepts, practices, and requirements as applied to the MSME context.
“We, in the DTI, recognize the major role of our MSMEs in the country’s economic development through income and job generation. Thus, in CALABARZON, we want to enable our MSMEs to understand the process in developing Business Continuity Plans (BCPs) as this will serve as a very helpful tool to help them prepare for future disruptions to their businesses. After this training program, we want to transform our MSMEs to ‘resilient MSMEs,’” said DTI-4A Director Marilou Q. Toledo during her welcome message.
According to a survey conducted by the DTI- Bureau of SME Development and Asian Disaster Preparedness Center, only 6% of 513 survey respondents from all over the Philippines have a BCP in place. Training activities on BCP for MSMEs have the potential to raise awareness of the importance of business continuity in private sector resilience and community resilience. An efficient and effective business continuity program should be applicable to any enterprises for them to recover and survive after a disaster. Moreover, as MSME development is one of the core functions of the DTI, the Negosyo Center staff should be equipped with the knowledge and tools to enable them to assist enterprises to be resilient in the face of disasters.
The training program was based on the simplified training module prepared by PDRF aligned to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) SME Guidebook on BCP. The training module covered the introduction to the Business Continuity Management Framework, overview of the BCP in the MSME context, risk assessment, business impact analysis, and the development and implementation of business continuity strategies and the BCP.♦
Date of release: 2 April 2019