Puno suggested that the government set up a one-stop action center for entrepreneurs planning to set up SMEs so they won’t have to undergo the tedious process of applying for numerous permits and licenses in various government agencies, which may take months and even years, to complete.
"Instead of hobbling the development of our SMEs, the government should go out of its way to streamline business processing for small and medium firms, so that they can become a wellspring to better-paying, decent jobs for the masa," Puno a former corporate executive and now Laban senatorial candidate, said.
Besides setting up a one-stop action center, Puno said the government should review the prerequisites for the start-up process involving SMEs so that it can weed out useless requirements that only eat up a hefty slice of their capital and delay their business ventures.
He made the proposal following complaints aired by the business sector over some inane regulations and laws that hamper the growth of SMEs and jack up the costs of doing business in the country.
According to reports, data from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) show that foreign and local investments in the country declined by 80.7 percent to P3.25 billion in the first three months of the year from P16.84 billion during the same period last year.
Economic analysts attributed this drastic drop in investments to the cautious stance adopted by most investors due to the growth slowdown in Japan and the United States, Asia’s primary export markets and trading partners.
These latest developments, Puno noted, show that the Philippines’ interdependence with other economies as a result of the emerging global trade arena is the primary reason for the investments slowdown, contrary to claims made by some quarters that the declining trend was due to previous political upheavals in the country.
With external economic developments making a major impact on our economy, Puno said the government should exert more effort in attracting investors and priming SMEs as engines of growth.
"Our SMEs comprise the bulk of privately owned businesses in the country. Stifling their growth would only prove detrimental to the economy and imperil the government’s job creation and preservation program," Puno said.
He said the development of SMEs through expanded credit facilities, tie-ups with big corporations, entrepreneur training programs and streamlined business requirements would help spur economic growth in the countryside, where majority of the poor live.
In 1999, 62 percent of 87,420 of the 141,013 SMEs which were registered that year established businesses in the countryside while 38 percent or 53,137 chose to locate within Metro Manila.