MANILA, Philippines, February 28, 2011 – Micro entrepreneurs now have a chance to scale up their businesses by attending a series of free five-day seminars called “Manage And Improve Your Business.”

Through the efforts of the PLDT KaAsenso and the University of the Philippines Institute of Small Scale Industries (UP ISSI), this seminar series will help micro entrepreneurs improve their businesses, increase their productivity and aim for sustainability by teaching them about strategic marketing, financial, operations and human resource management, among others.

PLDT Vice President for Retail Voice Acquisition and Micro-Business Patrick Tang said the KaAsenso Edukasyon Project will help KaAsenso reach its goal to provide micro-entrepreneurs with the right communication and information tools that can help increase profits and maximize savings.

“We believe that UP ISSI is the best partner to have for this project. We both believe in the importance of education for minigosyantes,” said Tang.

Professor Nestor Raneses, Director of UP ISSI, said the goal of entrepreneurship is geared towards an enterprising Philippines.

“With the KaAsenso Edukasyon Project, we should be proud that we’re actually doing something for our country. We are providing not just training but education, where we encourage minigosyantes to move up the business ladder, from micro to small to medium and to large enterprises,” Raneses said.

Tang added that a micro business ecosystem that empowers and enables minigosyantes can be created with five building blocks, namely, technology, education, added income, marketing, and financing – all key ingredients to KaAsenso’s 2011 programs.

“PLDT provides the right solutions to minigosyantes’ business and personal demands by offering a full suite of products and advocacies that are efficiency-, wealth-, and success-enablers, thus, making technology more accessible. It also opens a lot of revenue-generating opportunities for the minigosyante,” said Tang.

According to the National Statistics Office, micro businesses comprise 91% of the Philippines’ businesses, employing about 70% of the total workforce. Micro entrepreneurs are therefore key players in the growth of the Philippine economy.

Participants in the KaAsenso Edukasyon Project are PLDT subscriber-minigosyantes whose names were drawn in a raffle conducted last year. They will attend the seminar for five consecutive Saturdays and are expected to come up with a business improvement plan to be presented in front of a distinguished UP ISSI panel of business experts.

“Think of it as a mini-MBA course that can be taken within a shorter period of time and more importantly, it’s all for free,” said Jonathan De Quiroz, PLDT KaAsenso Product Specialist.

“We’re making education more accessible to hopeful minigosyos who want nothing more than a shot to becoming bigger.”

The KaAsenso Edukasyon Project is intended to run for the rest of the year and will enjoin more subscribers to similar trainings courtesy of UP ISSI and other KaAsenso partner training institutions.