BANGKOK, THAILAND — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) through the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC) – Bangkok and in collaboration with the Philippine Embassy in Bangkok and the Office of the Agriculture Attaché, organized a webinar on entrepreneurship and agribusiness ventures on a micro-scale level in the Philippines dubbed, Trabaho, Negosyo at Kabuhayan (TNK) Series: Micro Agri-Kabuhayan para sa mga Kababayan held last 18 March 2023.
The webinar aired live via Zoom with over 50 attendees and was simultaneously streamed to more than 200 viewers on the Philippine Embassy – Bangkok’s Facebook page. It was a follow through to the Embassy’s series of activities that aim to inform, educate and train Filipinos in Thailand on the various services and government programs available to them in the Philippines.
Participating resource speakers and panelists from the Department of Trade and Industry – Bureau of Small and Medium Enterprises Development (DTI-BSMED), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Labor and Employment – Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (DOLE-OWWA), government financial institutions and an OFW-turned entrepreneur, shared information and experiences and discussed various topics including entrepreneurship, agribusiness opportunities, and government programs and services available to Overseas Filipinos intending to return to the Philippines for good and venture into business activities particularly on agriculture and agribusiness.
It was the second and a continuation of the webinar series which focused on starting a small business.
The previous TNK webinar launched last 23 July, 2022 featured Ms. Charish San Juan Tanawan and Mr. Heinz Zante Militar which were both beneficiaries of DTI’s assistance through One Town One Product (OTOP) program, and graduates of DTIs Kapatid Mentor Me program.
Physics teacher by profession, Charish Tanawan, turned her passion into thriving business, thus the birth of Biba Cakes and Pastries. “Failure is an opportunity to learn and create,” remarked Tanawan. “Instead of having it as a failure, we created an opportunity to learn from it,” she added.
Heinz Militar, applied his IT and programming skills into a business venture with OneAKlan Mobile app; an e-commerce social enterprise especially created for Aklan MSMEs that brings together all the products of Aklan MSMEs in one digital platform.
“Through the app, we connect thousands of buyers and sellers around the nation while at the same time empowering the people and creating economic opportunities for local MSMEs.”
DTI’s initiative like Trabaho Negosyo Kabuhayan aims to further promote entrepreneurship and increase awareness of micro agribusiness opportunities in the Philippines among OFs in Thailand as this webinar series continues. ♦
Date of Release: 11 April 2023