Magandang hapon po sa inyong lahat!
Thank you, Usec. Gani for that introduction, and congratulations to you, Asec. Rosvi, Director Mavoc, and the Go Lokal! team for your efforts in bringing Go Lokal! into one of the leading e-commerce marketplaces in the country. I would also like to extend my most sincere appreciation to our guests and partners from Lazada, Go Lokal! MSMEs, and loyal Lokalistas.
Lazada has been one with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in the digital transformation of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and the promotion of local businesses and their products in the Lazada e-commerce marketplace. From the Reboot Webinar Series, launched last year, that helped local enterprises in expanding their businesses to online platforms, to their support to the “Buy Local, Go Lokal!” advocacy campaign through their own “Love Lokal”, our partnership has indeed come a long way. We greatly value Lazada’s contribution in creating awareness of Philippine products, inculcating a love of homegrown brands and instilling patriotism among Filipinos.
Today, we celebrate one of the breakthroughs in the collaborative effort of the government and the private sector in providing market opportunities for our local MSMEs. We take pride in launching the flagship store of Go Lokal! in LazMall. As you know, LazMall is Lazada’s marketplace that offers products from international and local brand sellers and authorized distributors for customers who want to access a wide range of 100% authentic branded products.
The Go Lokal! flagship store in LazMall opened in January 2021 and now showcases 31 brands with 368 shelf-keeping units (SKUs), is continuously onboarding MSME-suppliers, and has a growing number of followers. Lokalistas can now get their favorite snacks, healthy drinks, artisanal food products, gifts, and souvenir items from the Go Lokal! flagship store in LazMall.
We are pleased to share with you that since its inception in 2016, Go Lokal! has partnered with 20 retailers, rolled out 144 stores nationwide, assisted 837 MSMEs of which 352 were already mainstreamed, and have become regular suppliers of our retail partners and generated sales of over P396-M.
Mga kababayan, let us all work hand-in-hand in the recovery of our economy. Sama- sama po tayo sa pagsuporta sa maliliit na negosyante at manggagawang Pilipino na patuloy lumalaban upang ibangon ang ating ekonomiya mula sa pandemya ng COVID- 19.
In the spirit of bayanihan, I also call on other retail establishments and e-commerce platforms to support the Go Lokal! program by providing mainstreaming opportunities to local and small businesses through pop-up stores, online retail spaces, food kiosks, and the like. Let us all strive in enabling the growth of Filipino MSMEs as they are considered by our President Rodrigo Roa Duterte “vital to economic activity, job creation, and poverty reduction.”
Once again, maraming salamat sa lahat ng retail partners ng Go Lokal!. Maraming salamat Lazada. We hope that our partnership can bring more local products online through the Go Lokal! store in LazMall. At sa ating mga masisigasig na MSMEs, thank you for keeping the economy going. Saludo po kami sa inyo.
Maraming salamat at mabuhay po tayong lahat! ♦
Date of Release: 17 November 2021