By Abigael Mei M. Yaokana
THE Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Slingshot, in collaboration with QBO Philippines, organized the Slingshot Women Seminar on March 15 at the DTI International Building on Gil J. Puyat Avenue in Makati City.
In partnership with the Export Marketing Bureau (EMB), the seminar aimed to celebrate Women’s Month and help women entrepreneurship grow in the Asean. The seminar was conducted at the most opportune time, as the Philippines assumed the hosting and chairmanship of major Asean meetings, as well as the Asean Slingshot Summit this year.
Slingshot Philippines (#SlingshotPH) is a government-initiated platform for public dialogue and partnership. Spearheaded by the DTI, it aims to build and nurture the innovation ecosystem “as an enabling environment with policies and programs for the start-up and innovation sectors”.
Attended mostly by leading women exporters and entrepreneurs, the seminar featured women speakers Anna Haotanto and Maria Elena Obrero, with expertise in finance and intellectual property, respectively.
Haotanto, CEO of The New Savvy, highlighted the importance of financial management.
“In school, we were taught how to be good in everything, but nobody told us to be good with money,” she said, adding that financial literacy among women remains low. This is how she decided to create an online platform that tackles financial and career issues for women. She believes women must be empowered to make smarter financial practices.
“Women are actually better in financial management because they’re more patient, careful, and calculating,” she said.
Obrero, a consultant with the IP Field Operations Unit (IPFOU) of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), talked about the importance of brand consciousness among the participants, mostly coming from micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
“Most people can’t distinguish the difference among patent, copyright and trademark,” Obrero said, adding this could be dangerous for business, particularly for MSMEs.
She said inventions, whether small or big, must be protected. “Intellectual properties are as important as real estate.”
Obrero encouraged the participants to consult with IPOPHL to learn more about how they would be able to protect their products, inventions and other business tools.