Filipino women entrepreneurs are encouraged to register in SheTrades Philippines hub that will connect them to new overseas markets and grow their businesses.

“We are working on getting more buyers into the platform. However, at the moment, the way we connect women with buyers is primarily through trade fairs and buyer (to seller trade events),” said Pippa McDougall, international consultant at International Trade Centre (ITC) SheTrades initiative.

The ITC and Department of Trade and Industry-Export Marketing Bureau (DTI-EMB), the host institution, launched last December the initiative that seeks to connect three million women entrepreneurs to markets by 2021.

The hub provides opportunities to women entrepreneurs for networking, learning through virtual space, and connections to online buyers.

McDougall said the ITC is working with the DTI-EMB on looking at creating a digital transformation program as more entrepreneurs sell their products through ecommerce platforms amid the coronavirus disease.

“So, we are looking to roll out a whole digital transformation program specifically for women entrepreneurs from the Philippines. So, this is really exciting and you can benefit from all these opportunities and more by registering for the hub on SheTrades.com,” she added.

McDougall said the initiative, however, does not provide financing.

“SheTrade works on a finance pillar through capacity building support to increase women’s investment readiness and we also help to match investment-ready women with her network that could impact investors. So, we personally can’t provide trade financing support, however, we are hoping to partner with other organizations that can provide financing,” she added.

To register to the hub, McDougall said women entrepreneurs have to fill out an assessment form.

“So, we can really understand your businesses and we can tailor our support to your businesses so this is really important… And we want to make sure that really the program we can offer is relevant to your business,” she said, adding that registration is free of charge.

McDougall said the platform assists women businesses to attend trade fairs and provides comprehensive support to them.

“When you register on SheTrades.com, we will have your email and whenever we have new training, be that globally or specifically within the Philippines, we send you an email and we also post it on the website,” she added.

McDougall further said business support organizations (BSOs), even those that are not women-led, can register on the platform.