2008: Advanced Marketing Series in Manila and Cebu

In line with the aim to coach and update small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with the current trend in marketing, Pearl2 in cooperation with ATIFTAP offered the Advanced Marketing Series (AMS) facilitated in Manila and in Cebu.

The Manila run of the AMS was on April 23-34, April 29-30 to May 7-8, 2008 and was held at the Astoria Plaza Hotel in Pasig City, while the Cebu run was held on May 14-15, May 21-22 and May 28-29, 2008 at the Marco Polo Hotel, Cebu City.

The Advanced Marketing Series is the second phase of the International Marketing Workshops for SME owner/managers and BSOs. The first phase of which is the Going Global Series (GG Series) held simultaneously in Manila and in Cebu from July-August 2007. The GG Series worked around the eight modules from the Forum for International Trade Training, plus two refresher courses in basic concepts of marketing at the beginning of the series.

As the second installment of International Marketing, the Advanced Marketing Series deals with three more specific topics namely, Strategic Marketing, ICT in International Marketing and Effective Trade Fair and Trade Mission Participation.

Preliminary meetings prior to the workshop were done to ensure that the three modules are well-planned and well-developed to meet the needs of the participants.

Based on the diagnostics results from the target participants, ATIFTAP has developed sessions for the following modules: Strategic Marketing, ICT in Market Research and e-Marketing and Effective Trade Fair and Trade Mission Participation.

The workshops incorporated materials from the International Marketing book, E-Marketing Book, reference materials from the International Trade Center (ITC) and other supplemental materials.

The participants of the Advanced Marketing Series is a heterogeneous group of executive directors and officers from business support organizations, representatives from CITEM and SME owner/managers from sectors such as furniture, holiday décor, houseware, fine jewelry, footwear, food and organic, and information and communication technology.

The bulk of the series involved introduction of essential concepts and reinforcement of lessons learned from the GG Series through the facilitators’ lectures.

For Module 1, the lectures include a review of the two GG Series modules, which are the International Market Research and International Marketing; Relationship Marketing and Credibility Building, both from the ITC’s Successful Services Exporting; and ATIFTAP developed topics namely, External Environment Analysis, Self-Analysis and Strategy Identification and Selection.

Module 2 included lectures in e-Potential and e-Utilization, e-Marketing, and e-Solutions. These lectures were developed with the use of reference materials from ITC and e-Marketing book authored by Dr. Leonardo Garcia, Jr one of the facilitators.
Experts from the field and/or owner/managers from market leaders/innovators were invited to share to the participants the best marketing practices of their respective companies.

To tone down and make the technical nature of ICT be more SME-ready the, Mr. Dustin Andaya of the Philippine Cut-Flower Corporation and the owner-manager of IslandRose.net, shared his experience in adopting ICT in his company and the benefits of maximizing the use of ICT in one’s business. He highlighted several strengths of technologies readily available for SMEs that have aided them in facilitating export of services. He pointed out that some technology-support offices like web-developers and web-designers, have packages for SMEs to use ICT effectively and efficiently. On the flip side of the coin, he also presented some challenges in shifting from traditional to ICT-enabled systems.

On the second day of the ICT workshop, Mr. Mike Limueco, owner and CEO of the etrader.com.ph portal had presented the use of ICT in marketing through developing an e-commerce site and promoting your website through keyword selection and registration. In his session, he had made examples of local exporting companies who have used their websites to increase their market share and get more potential buyers and clients.

In module 3, Ms. Norelyn Babiera of Fiera de Manila has shared some best practices and trends in trade fairs. She had noted some breakthrough that other Asian countries have been doing that could possibly give the Philippines an idea of how to effectively and efficiently run trade fairs.

For the session in Effective Trade Mission Participation, Ms. Alice Pineda, formerly part of CITEM and currently a faculty at DLSU, has shared experiences from Filipino exporters who have made trade missions to expand their market base.

2008: Successful Services Exporting

Seventeen Participants and four trainer facilitators were trained with the Successful Services Exporting (SSE) modules on March 11, 2008 at the SEIPI Seminar Room, RCBC Building, Makati City. Mr. Rowan McClean, a guest consultant and trainer from Australia facilitated the workshop.

Assisting Mr. McClean in the sessions were Dr. Jose Edgar Mutuc who presented Initial Market Entry Module, Dr. Leonardo Garcia Jr who discussed Establishing Credibility Module, Mr. Benison Cu who lectured on the Relationship Marketing Module and Ms. Anji Resurreccion who then posed the question “Are You Export-Ready?” and discussed thoroughly it’s module.

In the afternoon, participants were grouped together and were asked to present one topic in the SSE modules. The group activity enabled the participants to appreciate the learnings and brainstorm for effective ideas in instructing the module assigned to them. All groups were commended, and the best group was given an award.

The trained trainers are listed in the members’ page under the Trade in Services section, or click here to view complete list.

2008 Second Global Business Training (GBT) in Manila

Thirty one officers, representatives and government consultants attended the Second Global Business Training at the Philippine Trade and Training Center from March 13-14, 2008.

The two day workshop focused on giving an overview of trade in services and enhancing skills in marketing services. The workshop was facilitated by international consultants. Mr. Rowan McClean, a consultant from Australia, teamed up with Dr. Leonardo Garcia, CPM and Mr. Benison Cu, CPM of the De La Salle University, and Lovinia Esguerra of ATIFTAP.

This project was headed by office of the Philippine Services Coalition (PSC), the Bureau of Small and Medium Enterprise and Development under the Department of Trade and Industry (BSMED-DTI), Department of Trade and Industry-Cebu (DTI-Cebu), Partnership and Advocacy for Competitiveness & Trade (PACT) and Association of Training Institutions for Foreign Trade in Asia and the Pacific (ATIFTAP). This event was also supported by the Trade is Services Division of the International Trade Center (ITC).

*CPM - Certified Professional Marketer

2008 Global Business Conference: Pinoy at Your Service (GBC)

By Bea del Rosario and Faye Alcantara

The 2nd Global Business Conference, with the theme of "Pinoy, At Your Service: The Filipino Service Industry in the Domestic and International Arena," was held at the Philippine Trade and Training Center last February 2, 2008. The conference was divided into two: the morning session whose talks were dedicated for college students and the afternoon session for professors and business advocates.


This year, the Association of Training Institutions for Foreign Trade in Asia and the Pacific (ATIFTAP), in partnership with Forum for International Trade Development Inc. (FITDEV), DLSU-Manila's Marketing Management Department, DLSU-Araneta, Junior Entrepreneurs' Marketing Association (JEMA), and the Student Catholic Action (SCA), has expanded the audience base from educators, practitioners and students from the enterprise management field to the services sector.

Speakers in the first session were invited to talk about significant topics about service. Hon. Mina Gabor, President of PHILSMED, discussed about the trends in the Philippine Service Industry. Dr. Luz Suplico, came over from the Hankuk University of Foreign studies to share her knowledge about Service Exporting. Dr. Anthony Calibo of the Department of Health discussed about the competency of Filipino Medical Professionals. Talks regarding Culinary Arts and Hospitality were also conducted by Ms Paz Sales from the Center of Culinary Arts, Manila, and Dr. Gloria Baken Siy of Trinity University. Despite some technical deficiencies, the seminars were still able to enthrall almost 1,400 participants who attended the conference. The speakers were truly credible. They were able to give relevant information about the service industry and gave the participants valuable knowledge regarding a very timely topic.

As the morning session concluded, both student and other guests gave a warm round of applause for another successful event. As the participants exited the hall, they received a gift bag courtesy of GBC'08 sponsors, namely Mead Johnson, Fashion 21, D.E.I., Super Ferry, and Globe. Snacks were also served.

The discussion in the afternoon session was considered more rigorous and in depth as practitioners gathered and discussed about topics such as Roadmap for Global Competitiveness in Services Trade by Usec. Edsel T. Custodio, Trade in Services Opportunities and Trade Barriers by Ms. Samantha Jonsson, Competency Assessment: Opportunities for the Academe and Service Organizations by Ms. Jocelyn R. Pick, and The Role of Partnerships by Dr. Jose Edgar Mutuc

A few question and answer games were played in between talks: the winner receiving a prize from Super Ferry or Globe. Participation was actively done by the audience since there were many questions raised after each speaker. A 15min break was administered to give the audience a time to have snacks. And to conclude the session, an open forum was done. At the end of the day, all hard work and stress paid of as a lot of participants early await next year's Global Business Conference. Be sure to look out for the third installment for the Global Business Conference next year.

2007 The Business Management System Training (BMS)

SME Owner-managers, consultants, trainers and educators all over the Philippines and two academicians from Karachi, Pakistan have undergone the three-day training on the Business Management System.

The BMS training was held at the Angelo King International Center, De La Salle - College of St. Benilde.

2007 ATIFTAP Holds First Global Business Confab (GBC)

In partnership with the De La Salle University's Marketing Management Department, ATIFTAP has launched the First Global Business Conference held last February 10 at the Teresa Yuchengco Auditorium.

ATIFTAP organized the conference to stimulate discussions on international trade and promote global trade research. Some 1,165 participants, among them business practitioners, researchers, educators, and students, attended the event.

Academic institutions, research institutions, training institutions, private companies, and foreign universities (Mohammad Ali Jinnah University from Karachi, Pakistan and Hanyang University from South Korea) were represented.

The event was organized in coordination with the Partnership Forum for International Trade Development Inc. FITDEV, DLSU- Manila Junior Entrepreneurs Marketing Association, and faculty members from St. Scholastica College, Adamson University, IAME, DLS -Araneta University, DLS- Canlubang,and DLS- College of Saint Benilde.

Due to the success of the event, another Global Business Conference will be conducted on February 9, 2008 at the Philippine Trade and Training Center.

2006 First National Enterprise Competitiveness Confab (NECC)

ATIFTAP and the Partnership Forum for International Trade Development, Inc. (FITDEV) have launched the First National Enterprise Conference.

The event was held at the Bro. Andrew Building Lecture Room last December 8, 2006. Attended by De La Salle University's International Marketing students and ATIFTAP EMD Experts, Advisers, and Associates, the conference aims to discuss developments and trends in local and international trade.

During the event, six graduates of the Enterprise Competitiveness Course were awarded with their EMD Adviser certificates.

Winning With The Web Search

S-U-C-C-E-S-S! This is the 7 letter word that best describes the recently held winning-with-the-web Enabling SMEs Search. It was a well-organized event participated by 32 companies from different regions all over the country. Some participants arrived at Island Cove Resort last August 22, 2004 but the real part started on August 23, 2004. All of the participants are filled with exuberance as they entered the resort, but surprisingly, don't know what's in store for them in this program. It was a 3-day event full of new learning in the business (with the aid of modern technology) and of course, making business through networks formed. Owners of various companies are given free training on strategy design and planning from international and local consultants. After this 3-day event, they are asked to come-up with strategic plans as their training outputs. Evaluation of the plans follows for the selection of 9 participants for a free need assessment in the areas of management, export and E-competencies, results of which will be used in planning the 2-3 months training and counseling assistance they will further receive. After this period, top 3 SMEs who gained business achievement concerning the marketing and production objectives in their strategic plans will be picked for the top awards.

  2008: Advanced Marketing Series in Manila and Cebu

  2008: Successful Services Exporting

  2008 Second Global Business Training (GBT) in Manila

  2008 Global Business Conference: Pinoy at Your Service (GBC)

  2007 The Business Management System Training (BMS)

  2007 ATIFTAP Holds First Global Business Confab (GBC)

  2006 First National Enterprise Competitiveness Confab (NECC)

  Winning With The Web Search