“So for six days, I was just amazed that all I thought I knew, but then this came in, WOW!” said Benjamin Pineda, a participant from San Pablo Manufacturing Corp., who attended the training program held at the Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC) of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Philippine small and medium enterprises  recently concluded the First Export Managers Advanced Training program, facilitated by Germany’s Hinrich Foundation and Leipzig University.

The two-weekend short course, where the first session was conducted from February 16 to 18  delivered full lectures and workshops on making of Consumer  and Business Consumer  Personas; Customer Profiling; Value Proposition Designing; Business Model Development; Commercial and Political Risks Identification; and Brand Development.

Sessions were facilitated by Leipzig University Director Prof. Dr. Utz Dornberger of International Small Enterprise Promotion and Training (SEPT) Program, and SEPT Business Services of Leipzig University Coordinator Prof. Gunnar Kaßberg and culminated in a one-on-one coaching on March 12 and 13 at the PTTC in Pasay City.

Another participant Roselle Florendo, general manager of Madrak Global Export Inc., added, “It’s an eye-opener to the other exporters that have failed in other aspects, something that we can now be guided by, for all the lessons shared in this course, this will be our stepping stone to a better export business.”

The 35 exporting SMEs represented by their exports managers presented their international marketing strategies, distribution channels, and key resources as they further internationalize their businesses.

This is in partnership with DTI’s PTTC and Export Marketing Bureau and the German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.