The Go Negosyo Caravan in Bacolod City on July 13 and 14 seeks to encourage an entrepreneurial mindset among the Negrenses, Ramon Lopez, executive director of the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship, said yesterday.

Lopez, who was in Bacolod for a press conference, said that through Go Negosyo, the PCE wants to expose Negrenses to other options in earning a living. "Instead of finding employment, they can start their own businesses," he said.

Lopez also said that by creating more opportunities in the country through entrepreneurship, PCE hopes that less Filipinos will work abroad.

He added that Go Negosyo also encourages Filipinos abroad to send money for investments, rather than for consumption.

Go Negosyo sa Bacolod will be a day-long expo and book signing at the University of St. La Salle Coliseum on July 13 and a two-day exhibit at SM Bacolod on July 13 and 14.

The event will offer business opportunities through exhibits and discussions with the country's top entrepreneurs like Vicky Belo of Belo Medical Goup, Ray Gapuz of Gapuz Review Center, Johnlu Koa of French Baker and Vivienne Tan of Entrepreneur School of Asia.

"There are lots of (business) opportunities out there," said Roberto Montelibano, president of the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a PCE partner in the staging the Go Negosyo sa Bacolod.

Aside from MBCCI, PCE is also working with the Bacolod City Economic and Business Council chaired by Bro. Rolando Dizon and the Bacolod Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry headed by James Chua.

Chua, who owns the Foodman chain of bakeshops, will be awarded as one of the Most Inspiring Bacolod Entrepreneurs on July 13.

Dizon said there is a need to reorient the country's college curriculum into one that will encourage students to become entrepreneurs after graduation instead of seeking employment with giant corporations.

"We need to have a paradigm shift. The entrepreneurial mindset has to be nurtured very early," he said.

Presidential Consultant for Entrepreneurship Jose Concepcion III, a PSE founding trustee, said in a statement that through the Go Negosyo caravan, PCE wants to give the people of Bacolod and Negros Occidental hope despite the economic woes besetting the country.

"We are happy to get a positive response for the recent endeavor of PCE. Many have already registered and are all in one in acknowledging that they want to make their first million like this country's top entrepreneurs once did," he said. "It has always been our aim to drum up an entrepreneurial revolution in the country."*NLG

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