More small businesses in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) can now participate in the digital economy, as PLDT and Smart strengthened their partnership with the region’s Ministry of Trade, Investments and Tourism (MTIT-BARMM) in celebration of MSME Week 2025.
Through the PLDT Group’s eBizNovation training, over 60 entrepreneurs from across the region learned the use of digital tools for branding, online selling, AI applications, content creation, and online safety to better promote their products and protect their businesses. PLDT’s B2B arm PLDT Enterprise also offered digital solutions to help small businesses expand their reach.
Hussein Birruar, Director of the Bureau of Trade and Industry, said, “PLDT and Smart’s presence signifies a shared vision for inclusive growth and a resilient economy driven by empowered local enterprises. May this be an opportunity to strengthen our collaboration, recognize the strides we have collectively achieved, and reaffirm our shared goal of building a stronger, more sustainable MSME sector in BARMM.”
Since 2024, the collaboration has brought the eBizNovation training and the BeCyberSmart anti-scam awareness campaign to hundreds of entrepreneurs in BARMM, many of them women, helping them navigate the fast-changing digital economy.
“We truly appreciate this meaningful collaboration with PLDT and Smart in strengthening the capacities of our local entrepreneurs, particularly in the area of digitalization,” shared Snooky S. Gani, Chief Trade-Industry Development Specialist, MTIT-BARMM. “Your support has played a significant role in helping our entrepreneurs adapt to the evolving digital landscape and become more competitive.”
Participant Nisa Ibrahim of Lemba nu Bangsamoro Marketing Cooperative shared, “We’ve heard about artificial intelligence before, but we didn’t understand how it actually works. We have so many products, but we didn’t know how to promote them online. Now, we’ve gained valuable new knowledge, which we really hope will help our business become successful.”
This growing partnership reflects a shared commitment to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, and SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure, by empowering grassroots entrepreneurs with inclusive access to digital tools and platforms—supporting the Philippine government’s digitalization thrust and advancing progress toward no poverty, gender equality, economic growth, and innovation.
