At the beginning of the economic support programme in 2004, the cities and municipalities in the Philippines and also on the middle island group of Visayas were affected by a very distinctive bureaucracy, a lack of reforms, misguiding incentives, and market distortions. These were the result of interventionist regulatory and funding policies as well as a lack of capacities and a lack of management competence in the conception and implementation of political reforms. The situation was additionally intensified by a weak participation of the private sector (chambers, associations) in the public-private dialogue.

The programme ran a good nine years from mid-2003 until the end of 2012 and was divided in three phases. In the first phase different pilot measures were carried out in three provinces with several partners to support development approaches for a new private sector. Phase two was marked by focus and integration: based on experience through versatile pilot measures, focus was put on the most promising approaches which were conducted by only one partner, the Department of Trade of Industries (DTI). The programme was extended in all three regions and 16 provinces in the region of Visayas. Taking into account the Philippine "Gender and Development Strategy" it was systematically ensured that men and women could benefit equally from these measures. The implementation was accompanied by a jointly developed DTI effect-oriented monitoring. The findings were discussed regularly in the regions and were used to assess target achievements or concept adjustments. The already high direct responsibility of DTI regional and provincial management and local authorities were further strengthened. The exchange of positive experiences was promoted at a national, regional, and local level. In phase three the programme played an important role in raising awareness and mobilizing the DTI for "green economic development" in order to increase competition for regional MSME and on a national level. Furthermore, the partner DTI expanded self-directed the very successful local economic development in the regions of Luzon and Mindanao; the enhancement of value chains was supported by the national programme with JICA funds.

The success of the programme "Support of the Private Sector" is mainly based on the ownership of the partner DTI. Cooperation on an equal footing, open and regular communication processes, taking the positions and priorities of the partner seriously, transparent decisions, continuity, accessibilities and proximity – all play an important role. In the programme region, DTI is also characterized by a high staff continuity. The joint offices at four locations (three regions and national level) and the intensive on-site consultation in 16 provinces of Visayas emphasized the close cooperation. In phase 1 and at the beginning of phase 2, the project had become involved in an orchestrated search and experimentation process, leading from joint on-site testing of different developing approaches in three pilot provinces to further adaption and implementation in the whole region of the programme and finally to nation-wide application. This approach substantially contributed to the programme’s success.