Study Room, Malacañang
September 12, 2016

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and Jose Ma. “Joey” Concepcion III held a late evening meeting in the Study Room of Malacañan Palace.
Concepcion was recently appointed as Presidential Consultant for Entrepreneurship and is also the RFM Corporation president and CEO, and Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship – Go Negosyo founder.

According to Concepcion, the appointment is an opportunity to work with the government and the private sector in alleviating poverty and empowering Filipinos through micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) development.

In his meeting with the President, three major topics were discussed. First is the Kapatid program, which is a brand being used to promote inclusive growth and pertains to the large corporations and MSMEs in the community that can help one another for growth and success.

Next is the contractualization issue wherein Concepcion told President Duterte that job security is important and the end of contract or ’endo’ must be stopped. The President agreed on the suggestion of Concepcion that the business community can at least continue to hire service providers on the condition that these providers will be regularized and given benefits like retirement pay.

The last is the ASEAN Summit, which the Philippines is hosting next year and coinciding with its 50th anniversary. Concepcion was recently appointed to chair the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ABAC) in 2017.

Also present during the call were Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez, Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Fortunato ‘Boy’ dela Peña, DTI Undersecretaries Perry Rodolfo and Rowel Barba, Agriculture (DA) Undersecretary Ariel Cayanan, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry President George Barcelon, Labor and Employment (DOLE) Directors Dominique Tutay and Alex Villa, and GO Negosyo Consultant on MSME Development Merle Cruz.

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