Spurring your business through the Ureka Forum

BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

If you want to improve or spur your business to greater heights, it wouldn’t hurt if you join an entrepreneurs’ forum at the CAP Center, Camp John Hay on Oct. 3 (Saturday) starting at 8 a.m. Fee is P400 for early birds and P500 for those who come late.

The fee is not really that much, as according to JivSy of GeiserMaclang, this is inclusive of meals. In the course of the session you will learn how to use the internet to promote your business and interact with other entrepreneurs and customers. At the end of the day, you will have your own website for your business, courtesy of organizers who will help in the design and make the final touches as you make the brave new leap into the exciting and brave new world of online commerce.

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A “powerhouse cast” of organizers include UREKA consortium partners — namely Dept. of Trade  Industry, Air21, AMTI, Dragon Pay, Geiser-Maclang, Panahon TV, PLDT SME Nation, Shopinas, & e-commerce advocate, Janette Toral -- each one, a leader in their respective fields.

I had the opportunity to attend a press conference earlier at Vallejo Hotel courtesy of Jiv who informed us of the event.

Genaro Lapez, executive vice president of Union Bank of the Philippines said, during the press con, massive transformation is happening today in Philippine business and society as a whole – called the Digital Revolution. 

“In barely a decade, this has revolutionized many things – from how we buy plane tickets to finding-and-booking-a-table at a choice restaurant to turbocharging a relatively-new industry such as Business Process Outsourcing (“BPO’s”), to potentially generate more revenue inflow than our resilient OFW’s – as early as 2016.”

He said this revolution has spilled over to everyday Filipinos. He cited threekey facts made by the head of Google Southeast Asia and India  Rajan Anandan, recently at a roundtable discussion, citing their 2014 Global Index.

As of 2014, 47 million of 100 million Filipinos were already on the internet and 55% of these internet users – about 26 million - are on smartphones which actually gives the Philippines the highest smartphone penetration rate among emerging markets in the worldBy this year 2015, around 60 million Filipinos which is 60% of the population,” are expected to be on the Internet.

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Filipinos reportedly spend five hours a day on their smartphones and 2.8 hours online.  The Google head said Filipinos spend the most number of time online in Southeast Asia” with 52% of these smartphone users having recently purchased products and services using their device.

Truly, our countrymen today are more connected, more informed and more empowered, according to Lapez.

“By now, the conclusion should be obvious, Filipino businesses should shift to digital today because it is where increasing numbers of Filipino consumers are. And yet, that same 2014 global index study showed only 1% percent of small and medium enterprises (SME’s) has a website”

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According to Lapez, these are the same SME’s that represent more than 95% of all registered businesses in the Philippines and employ 62% of the labor force.

“There is a major “disconnect” out there that has not been addressed.Discovering this “disconnect”, was our “Eureka moment” at UnionBank on how to best contribute to the country’s sustained economic growth.

Specifically we want to enable the mass conversion of Philippine SME businesses to e-commerce nationally, thus making SME’s an integral part of the digital revolution.  To our knowledge, this is the first time such a massive conversion is being attempted not just in the Philippines or ASEAN, or perhaps even in the world.”

He said as effective e-commerce is a process made up of many vital business steps, they reached out to industry leaders to “partner” and also champion this commitment -- this “crusade”. 

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Now they have a cast of companies mentioned earlier, but to complete this crusade of converting SME’s to e-commerce, “real partners are needed for real change.”

“The bottom line for Union Bank and our UREKA partners is that - while many have talked about e-commerce to SME businesses, (in their respective seminars, workshops andconventions) -- it is now time to do E-commerce.”

He said by enabling SME’s to “do e-commerce” business is given a tremendous boost, adding the UREKA Forum is envisioned to be implemented on a perregion basis as it “goes national.” 

Lapez said the very first UREKA Forum, which starts the biggest and only mass-conversion-to-e-commerce program in the country, will be held in Baguio City on Oct. 3 considering the city has long been a central “hub” for Central Luzon, Northern Luzon and Cordillera due to its rich, uniquely diverse and enduring culture and heritage.

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He added what most people may not know is that Baguio continues to be a catalyst for business.  For example, he added, the city is currently ranked No. 13 in the NCCP’s National Competitiveness Ranking – from No 15 in 2013. Baguio, with the Cordillera Administrative Region, currently has the third highest per-capita-income in Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) — coming right after NCR and Calabarzon.

Lapez said with the UREKA Forum, a new “21st -Century Baguio,” as bastion of e-Commerce and  “leading player” in digital revolution would emerge.

For those who would like to attend the Ureka Forum, you may contact: Jules Veloso at mobile number 0917.522.4624, Voice: 632.403.4357/ 58,fax: 632.403.3540 or email: pr@newzilla.geisermaclang.com