5 Successful Filipino Entrepreneurs

WILSON P. NG President & CEO Ng Khai Development Corp. Small Business Entrepreneur 2004 Ng Khai Development Corporations story begins in Cebu, with a man whose passion for computers matched his drive to become a successful entrepreneur. Mr. Wilson P. Ng was born in 1965 to a Filipino-Chinese family where he says being an entrepreneur was expected. Mr. Ng discovered his passion for computers in college and followed a career in Information Technology after graduation. But he had to forgo his plan of pursuing his own business when his father passed away in 1989, leaving him in charge of the family business. It was only in 1992 that Ng Khai Development Corporation, Mr, Ngs brainchild, was born, initially as a computer software company. Not long after, Ng Khai broadened its product base to become a non-stop shop for integrated IT business solutions. The company offers a vast array of IT products: computer hardware, software, web development, training, and systems integration among others. Over the years, Ng Khai has grown to keep up with the Dynamic IT industry. The business caters to the Visayas and Northern Minadanao areas and has partnered with big IT names such as HP, IBM, Microsoft, and Cisco to ensure the delivery of premier-quality services and equipment to its customers. Ng Khai is the only Microsoft Large Account Reseller in the South, and is the exclusive Visayas distributor of 3M Visual products.

RODRIGO E. RIVERA, SR. Chairman & CEO RD Corporation Agribusiness Entrepreneur 2004 Mr. Rodrigo E. Rivera, Sr. was a banker for 20 years before he decided to put up his own company, RD Pawnshop, with very limited capital in 1976. While the pawnshop business was flourishing, Mr. Rivera and his wife invested their earnings with other enterprises that similarly prospered. Mr. Rivera also attracted former colleagues in the banking industry to help him out in his business, making sure that the business units were growing while new investments were prudently planned and executed. In less than two decades, the family business grew into a group of 42 companies and subsidiaries. RD Corporation is the holding and managing entity. The flagship company is RD Fishing Industry, Inc. which serves the global market. Fresh tuna, the main produce, and canned products are exported to Europe and the USA, Japan and other countries, while local brand Diana is sold in the Philippines. With 8,000 employees, the RD Group of Companies is also into banking real estate, hotels, and resorts, agriculture, credit and gemology, and pawnshop operations. Mr. Rivera is keen on expanding outlets. He also has plans for RD Corporation to go public to help fund further expansion. In 1999, Mr. Rivera was named the Outstanding Countryside Investor of the Year as well as one of the Top 20 Employers. He was appointed as Papua New Guinea Honorary Consul General for Mindanao in 2001 and received the Rajah Award of Excellence in 2004.

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NAME: Elizabeth S. Baylon SECTION: III-19