SAN FERNANDO CITY, Nov. 8 (PIA) – The Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) 2020 Zero to Hero awardee in the Ilocos Region bagged the most coveted 2020 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Business Awards (ABA 2020) under the Inclusive Business Category.
On November 13, Xavier B. Mercado, the owner of Halo-Halo de Iloko (HHDI), a local novelty restaurant located here, will be receiving his award representing the Philippines in Hanoi, Vietnam.
After a month of meticulous deliberation by the ASEAN Business Awards Organizing Committee with consultations from the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (ACCMSME) and ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC), he received the formal notification that he won.
“This is an early Christmas gift not only to my family and business but also for the country that amidst challenges brought by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, we are able to bring pride to the Filipino people,” said Mercado.
Further, he has been engaging his business to different socio-economic activities as well as partnering with different organizations in the province of La Union to promote entrepreneurship, tourism and community development.
Mercado is the past president of the Association of Tour Guides of La Union, the founder of the Association of Tourism Industries and Networks of La Union, and the head of the Special Projects Committee of the Multi-Sectoral Governance Council of the Provincial Government of La Union.
Moreover, he is the current president of the Region 1 Tour Guides Association established by the Department of Tourism in the Ilocos (DOT-1); one of the board of directors of the Chamber of Commerce of La Union; DOT-1's sectoral representative in the Interim Tourism Council; and currently represents the tourism sector in the Smart City Council of San Fernando, La Union.
“This award introduced us to a deeper role to serve our country in the best way that we can, and we vow to continue what we started and develop whatever we have to bring inclusivity in our communities,” he added.
HHDI was declared by the DOT-1 as a tourist destination under culinary tourism in July 2019 and is one of the top three tourist arrival's generators in the Ilocos Region.
According to Mercado, he was nominated by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Go Negosyo.
The ABA 2020 is a prestigious international-level event held annually by the ASEAN-BAC since 2007 bringing opportunities to reaffirm its positions and prestige among industry peers, advance their competitiveness and integration, and enhance a brand throughout the ASEAN region on a global level.
It is also aimed to highlight good practice examples of companies with business models designated to make profit while solving problems of the poor and people with low income within the Southeast Asia region.
“It is of great honor that DTI’s Zero to Hero Awardee who is also a Kapatid Mentor Me mentee is ABA 2020’s awardee, and his business epitomizes the Go Negosyo's mantra, Pilipinas Angat Lahat through his inclusive innovations,” said DTI in the llocos information officer Joyce Ann Segui-Sabado. (JCR/AMB/AHFF/PIA-1)
Source: Philippines Information Agency (pia.gov.ph)
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