DHL GoTrade helps SMEs unlock global export markets

Insider Spotlight

• DHL’s GoTrade program targets export-ready SMEs, helping them overcome gaps in trade knowledge, logistics, technology and access to finance
• Around 900 to 1,000 Philippine MSMEs have opened DHL accounts and shipped internationally for the first time over the past two to three years
• GoTrade has trained almost 200 Philippine businesses this year, with more training sessions planned with public- and private-sector partners
  
  
  
  

Philippine small businesses have enormous economic weight but remain underrepresented in international trade, a gap DHL Express wants to narrow by giving export-ready enterprises the knowledge and logistics support to sell abroad.

The Philippines has 1.24 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), representing 99.6 percent of business establishments and 67 percent of national employment. Yet many remain focused on domestic customers, leaving considerable export potential untapped, according to data presented at the GoTrade Summit in Manila.

Step into the international markets

“The data shows us that most MSMEs in the Philippines are really just centralised on either local or domestic, and it is that step to the international market that we are trying to help them make, and through things like the masterclass sessions we are holding today, we will help them take that in,” Nigel Lockett, managing director the Philippines, DHL Express said during the media briefing.

GoTrade uses DHL’s international network, knowledge and expertise to facilitate cross-border trade through SMEs. Its capacity-building efforts address four major constraints facing smaller businesses: access to finance, skills and knowledge, ICT and logistics.

Export-ready SMEs

Sarah Meinert, DHL Group head of GoTrade, explained that the entrepreneurs currently undergoing training are producing a range of locally made goods, including handicrafts and coconut products. “We are focusing on these export-ready SMEs,” Meinert added. 

DHL sees opportunities beyond traditional destinations such as the United States, Canada, Singapore, Japan, Australia and Hong Kong, with ASEAN and selected Middle Eastern markets identified as emerging growth corridors. E-commerce, online sellers and social commerce are also expanding pathways to overseas customers.

“Currently for this year we have trained almost 200 and we have more training to come this year and we are definitely in conversation with our partners,” she said.

Practical bridge

“I think what we see is that, unlike the old days, MSMEs today are getting far more ambitious, and they're always constantly looking for new ways of growth,” Meinert added.

For SMEs, that ambition can translate into exports when businesses become equipped to navigate customs, international logistics and market requirements—the practical bridge GoTrade is seeking to provide. 

“Imagine that if all these MSMEs can go global, you can imagine what kind of contribution it can do to your exports. All I can say is that DHL through GoTrade is performing the enabler, and if you have the ambition, we can work in collaboration with you,” CEO for Asia Pacific DHL Express Ken Lee said.  —Vanessa Hidalgo | Ed: Corrie S. Narisma