Entrepreneurship boosts economy–Fernandez
6TH SARI-SARI STORE FAIR
ENTREPRENEURSHIP, even on a micro scale, contributes to family income and stimulates the economy in communities.
This was the message delivered by Dagupan Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez, president and chairman of the board of the giant CSI Group of Companies, when she formally opened the CSI-sponsored 6th CSI Sari-Sari Store Fair last October 18.
Fernandez narrated that her family started as a small entrepreneur in Dagupan, owning a sari-sari store that later grew into a small grocery, then a supermarket, which is now one of the biggest chains in northern Luzon turned into a grocery and later supermarket.
The fair, which opened with presidential cousin and senatorial candidate Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, founder of the non-government organization Micro Ventures Foundation, as guest of honor and speaker, has been an annual event promoting the sari-sari store sector.
Aquino paid tribute to sari-sari storeowners as one of the foundations of the country’s economy.
“Nothing big emerged without starting small,” Aquino said.
He noted that micro entrepreneurs make up about 90 per cent of businesses in the country.
Aquino has been pushing for the development of micro enterprises prior to entering politics through his multi-awarded social enterprise The Hapinoy Program, which has been recognized around the world as a model for women empowerment and for the development of micro-businesses.
The CSI supermarkets serve as a major supplier to these small neighborhood stores, earning Fernandez the moniker “Sari-Sari Store Queen” after she took over the reins of the family business from her late father Jimmy Fernandez.
Fernandez also urged local governments to make the promotion of entrepreneurship a priority.
“Now that I am running for mayor of Dagupan, I will see to it that entrepreneurship would be given a top-most priority in order to empower the housewives and mothers in their own homes,” Fernandez said.
Aside from featuring promotional booths from consumer product companies, the fair also holds seminars on financial management to teach sari-sari store owners how to operate their business more efficiently with simple accounting, bookkeeping and goods inventory.–with report from Eva Visperas
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