Aimed at filling the gaps of youth development in rural communities, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) MIMAROPA Region equipped students with foundational business skills and an entrepreneurial mindset.

Under the Be Your Own Boss (BOSS) program, a practical and activity-based training, the participants are trained with step-by-step business skills important for environmental scanning, identifying small business opportunities, and developing and operationalizing a business plan.

For 2022, DTI MIMAROPA conducted several sessions of the BYOB. The largest convention of existing and budding youth entrepreneurs from the provinces of Marinduque, Oriental Mindoro, and Palawan was held virtually on December 14-16, 2022.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Opportunity 2.0 (O2) Program through the Education Development Center, Inc. forged a partnership with DTI to advance youth’s entrepreneurial potential through innovation and life skills by integrating the entrepreneurship initiatives of the O2 Program to the DTI’s Youth Entrepreneurship Program or YEP.

Joel B. Valera, Regional Director of DTI MIMAROPA, said: “We have always envisioned our entrepreneurial path to be inclusive, which includes the upward progress of the youth sector.”

Following the discussions on the basic concepts of business, customer service, marketing, and finance, the participants were asked to present a marketing and business plan to complete the three-day extensive session.

Hazel DP. Salvador, Provincial Director of DTI Palawan, emphasized during her closing remarks that she is optimistic for the growth and development of the youth participants as entrepreneurs of the future. *

Date of released: 21 December 2022