Philexport backs countryside MSMES
AS part of its mandate to strengthen the country’s export industry, the Philippine Exporters Confederation (Philexport) continues to in its quest of scouting micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMES) in the countryside which can be assisted to attain competitiveness and eventually make it to the global market.
To pursue this drive, the country’s leading export association supports initiatives and partners with other entities in collaborating with promising provincial local enterprises.
In line with this thrust, Philexport supported AAP Lakbay in its recent caravan tours to Bulacan and Cavite to rediscover the heritage, culinary and natural attractions, as well as the export-quality crafts of the said provinces which have become tourist destinations themselves.
AAP Lakbay is the travel and tourism arm of the Automobile Association of the Philippines, the country’s national auto club, which has been doing caravans across the country’s key destinations over the past decade to promote domestic tourism and support MSMES in the process.
The World Trade Organization has classified tourism services and products as among the globe’s biggest and fastest-growing exports before the Covid-19 pandemic struck. With the resumption of international travels, it is hoped that tourism receipts will bounce back and even surpass the 2019 levels.
Philexport, founded in 1992 to help businesses with the exportation of goods and services, is an accredited organization under the Export Development Act (EDA) of 1994, and has some 5,000 members and 20 regional chapters across the archipelago.
The group is headed by Sergio Ortiz Luis, with former Department of Tourism secretary Mina Gabor as chair of its tourism committee.