Deadline for Likha Global business plan contest for OFWs extended to Jul 15

 

Last year's OFW qualifiers from HK Shenny, Marilou and Darren, pose for a photo
with Labor Attache Cesar Chavez, Jr

“𝐾𝑢𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑎 𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎…

𝐾𝑢𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑝 𝑘𝑎𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑔𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑢𝑢𝑤𝑖 𝑠𝑎 𝑃𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑠…

𝐻𝑢𝑤𝑎𝑔 𝑛𝑎 𝑝𝑜 𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑔𝑝𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑏𝑎𝑛.”

(If you have a long-cherished business idea, if you have a dream that you want to bring back with you the Philippines, take action now).

This was the last-minute call issued by the Migrant Workers Office in Hong Kong for all overseas Filipino workers who have worked abroad for at least five years to join the 2026 Likha Global Business Plan Competition organized by the Department of Migrant Workers.

The deadline of submission of entries to the contest where cash awards of between Php100,000 to Php500,000 are at stake, has been extended by another month, or until July 15 this year.

Likha or the Linangin ang Kakayahan sa Kabuhayan Award or Likha Global Business Plan Competition is organized annually by the Department of Migrant Workers as part of its reintegration program for OFWs.

Business plans submitted as entries to the contest will be judged according to the following criteria: Presentation, 40%; Quality of business plan, 30%; and Feasibility of enterprise, 30%.

To register, click this link: https://sites.google.com/dmw.gov.ph/likha-ofw/hom

Last year, three OFWs from Hong Kong, Shenny, Marilou and Darren, each won Php100,000 in seed capital for the business they plan to start in the Philippines on their return home, after hurdling the preliminary round of the competition.

An OFW from Qatar, Marisol Amihan, won the top prize of Php700,000 for her sustainable farm development proposal. First runner-up Catherine Espiriti, a domestic worker in Kuwait, received Php500,000 for her business plan for goat raising while second runner-up Jimmy Chavez, Jr. won Php400,000 for his nipa palm wine project.

Thirty-eight finalists, including the three domestic workers from Hong Kong, each took home Php100,000 for their respective business plans.

All OFWs who made it to the final round were provided free travel to Manila so they could attend the Likha Global bootcamp where they received mentoring, and asked to present their business plans to experts.

To qualify, one has to be currently working abroad, has at least five years’ experience as an OFW, is documented in the latest deployment, an active member of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and is not yet operating a business in the Philippines.

All applicants who make it to the preliminary round are required to attend the boot camp in the Philippines, and if they fail to participate, will not be allowed to claim their cash prize immediately. They will still have to attend business mentoring sessions in the Philippines within a year, and pay their own travel expenses.

Likha Global for land-based OFWs is part of the DMW’s reintegration boosters, which also include Likhang Marino for seafarers, and Likhang Kababaihan which is exclusively for women would-be entrepreneurs. Each worldwide competition offers the same Php500,000 cash reward for the top winner.

All information on these contests can be found in the DMW’s Reintegration One-Stop Shop, a website that features the programs that OFWs can take advantage of, as well as OFWs who have since turned into entrepreneurs (click here to go to the page: https://dmw.gov.ph/reintegration