Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank), the country’s leading banking partner of Filipino entrepreneurs, has teamed up with Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. (AEV) for an initiative to ‘tech-up’ micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the tourism sector. The drive is part of UnionBank’s efforts to help entrepreneurs thrive in the digital economy, pushing its Tech-Up Pilipinas advocacy.

The Bank through its MSME platform GlobalLinker (UBGL), together with AEV, will be offering technology-focused training courses to MSMEs who are with the Tourism Promotions Board (TBP) Membership Program. The said courses are designed to provide learning opportunities that will enable capacity-building and address various gaps in digital competencies for the tourism MSMEs.

“The country’s tourism sector was one of the hardest hit during this pandemic, which is why we want to offer additional training to help MSME owners in the sector, hone their digital entrepreneurship skills,” said Jaypee Soliman, UnionBank VP and SME & Micropreneurs Segment Head. “With this, not only will it become easier for them to acclimate to the growing digital economy, it will also help revitalize the tourism sector in general, and somehow the country’s economy.”

“Partnerships like this, where the private sector and the government join forces and work together, make great impact and clear results,” Christopher Camba, AEV First Vice President for Corporate External Relations said. “We are more than glad to share our expertise to the tourism industry MSMEs because we strongly believe that in order to achieve economic recovery, all stakeholders must collaborate. And in this case, building digital competencies is the way to go.”

Lined up is a webinar series, “Biyaheng Digiskarte: Angat Turismo Serye,” facilitated by experts in the field led by Eric Caeg, President and Founder of the Retail Academy Philippines (RAP).

The initiative is also part of UnionBank’s GoBeyond Communities, the Bank’s corporate social responsibility and employee volunteering program that encourages UnionBankers to support their personal advocacies through active participation in select projects benefitting chosen communities.