Local lantern makers in the City of San Fernando attended a financial forum jointly hosted by the City Investment Promotion Office and Department of Trade and Industry Pampanga, on April 26, 2021.
Leading the forum were three private bank companies—Bank of the Philippine Islands, Security Bank, and Philippine Savings Bank/PSBank—and a state-run financial company, Small Business Corporation.
The forum aimed to provide financing partners for lantern makers where they can apply for loans and savings programs. It was a supplement to different economic recovery assistance programs provided to them by the City Government of San Fernando and other agencies.
These programs will provide a capital or extra funds for the artists’ re-opening or expansion of their lantern businesses, a few months before the lantern industry’s peak season hits in the third and fourth quarter of the year, and for other purposes.
For the second edition of the forum, the organizers will tap the members of micro, small, and medium enterprises.
