Sa ating mga micro-SMEs and members ng Go Lokal! Community, ladies and gentlemen, magandang hapon po sa inyong lahat!
Before anything, we would like to thank the Metro Retail Stores Group Inc. (MRSGI), particularly the distinguished principals and board members, the Gaisano Family, Mr. Manuel C. Alberto, President and Chief Operating Officer (COO), and Ms. Anna Periquet, Vice President for Corporate Affairs, for partnering with us. Maraming salamat, Metro!
To everyone here, especially our dear entrepreneurs and loyal Lokalistas, thank you for joining us today as we celebrate another milestone of the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Go Lokal! program. We are proud to share with you that since its inception in 2016, Go Lokal! has partnered with 20 retailers, rolled out 144 stores nationwide, and assisted 788 micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Of this number, 352 MSMEs have already been mainstreamed and become regular suppliers of our retail partners, generating sales of over ₱381M.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve stepped up the digitalization efforts of our Go Lokal! program and partnered with online platforms by making our locally-made products more accessible to the buying public.
But even as we continue to adapt and reinvent the program’s marketing platforms to sustain business opportunities for our MSMEs, we’ve remained true to our promise of providing them free market access in high foot-traffic areas. Kung kaya’t sa pagpapatuloy ng gradual at calibrated na reopening ng ating ekonomiya—kasabay ng roll-out ng vaccination sa buong bansa—tayo po ay naglulunsad ng hindi lang isa, kung hindi dalawang Go Lokal! Outlets ngayong araw na ito!
Thanks to our friends at Metro, one of the outlets will be at the Metro Supermarket in Market! Market! Taguig City, while the other will be at the Metro Supermarket in Ayala Center Cebu.
Conceived in the midst of the pandemic and quarantine restrictions, DTI’s partnership with Metro to promote Go Lokal! is a feat all by itself. More importantly, this partnership will help us in revitalizing consumption to boost demand under our “Revitalizing Businesses, Investments, Livelihoods, and Domestic Demand” (REBUILD) PH Strategy.
Ipinatutupad po natin itong national economic recovery strategy na ito simula pa noong isang taon, na naka-angkla sa bisyon ng ating Pangulong Rodrigo Roa Duterte na bumuo ng isang modern, dynamic, at responsableng Pilipinas sa post-pandemic future. And among our initiatives to revitalize consumption is our “Buy Local! Go Lokal!” campaign, which urges the public to patronize local products and services. While this will maximize DTI’s One Town, One Product (OTOP) NextGen and Go Lokal! programs, it will—more importantly—support our MSMEs by empowering their production capacities to capture the demand generated by consumption. Pinapaalala po natin na sa pagtangkilik ng Buy Local, Go Lokal!, we are helping the local manufacturers and service providers, which in turn, also help the fast recovery of our economy. We are helping save and create local jobs. Mas maraming makababalik sa trabaho if we buy local.
Thus, as our kababayans in Cebu and Metro Manila buy their favorite snacks and artisanal food products from Go Lokal! On the shelves of Metro Supermarkets, this will help save businesses, keep jobs, and provide our people income. This, in turn, will boost consumption and power demand—creating a virtuous cycle for our country’s economic recovery.
Finally, as we celebrate Corporate Social Responsibility Month, we’d like to recognize Metro’s rich tradition and tireless efforts to put together the yearly online collective shop-for-a-cause. In particular, DTI—through Go Lokal!—is a staunch supporter of your Virtual Metro Community Bazaar.
In closing, we thank Metro for heeding DTI’s call for support by providing free retail space to our MSMEs and adopting the “Buy Local, Go Lokal!” Seal in and around Metro retail establishments nationwide. We also want to assure local and small manufacturers that we remain steadfast in our commitment to help you become more resilient, adaptable, and competitive under the new normal.
Lastly, we call on our people to join us in this collective effort at sabay-sabay tayong maging “Champions of all things Filipino.” Tangkilikin po natin ang sariling atin upang tayo ay sama-samang makapag-build back better tungo sa isang mas maunlad na post-pandemic future.
Maraming salamat po at mabuhay tayong lahat! ♦
Date of Release: 06 July 2021