Filinvest Land to put up P120-M pioneer business park for SMEs

Filinvest Land Inc. has embarked on a P120 million pioneer business park for micro, small and medium enterprises.

The MSME business park is in line with President Arroyo’s 10-point Economic Agenda to create more jobs, expand local enterprise and enhance the development of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

President Arroyo led the ceremonial launching last week of the country’s first MSME business park called Asenso Village at the Wack-Wack Golf & Country Club in Mandaluyong City.

The development of MSME business parks is included in the 2005 Investment Priorities Plan of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and is consistent with the government’s objective to develop and support two million entrepreneurs until 2010.

A pioneering project of Filinvest Land, Inc. (FLI) that addresses the needs of "widely dispersed and un-zoned" cottage industries across the country, Asenso Village is expected to meet the requirements of new and existing entrepreneurs, including their families and workers, for an affordable and fully functional business park-community.

Recent data show that MSMEs comprise 99.6 percent of more than 800,000 registered enterprises in the country, contributing 32 percent to total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or value added and accounting for 70 percent of employment.

MSMEs also registered 60 percent of total exports and gross domestic product contribution of $84.2 billion, according to a study done by the American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines early this year.

According to FLI vice chairman Andrew Gotianum Jr., "we initiated Asenso Village to help entrepreneurs start or expand their businesses by providing them with a dedicated industrial-residential cluster that has access to various infrastructures, sustained technical and government institutional support, and other services and incentives needed for their successful operation."

Gotianun, who had envisioned the MSME clustering concept, said that every Asenso Village to be put up would generate more employment opportunities for workers, while business owners would increase their productivity and incur less overhead cost where Asenso is located.

"An MSME worker would earn more compared to a minimum-wage earner because he would spend less for travel and food expenses. They could even walk going to work. Entrepreneurs, meanwhile, would benefit from both fiscal and non-fiscal incentives. For instance, the savings we would get from tax incentives of BOI (Board of Investments) shall also be passed on for their ultimate benefit," said Gotianun.

FLI has applied for BOI registration on a pioneer status for its Asenso Village.

FLI has identified Asenso Village sites from its land bank all over the country, particularly in Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Negros Occidental, Batangas, Gen. Santos, and Bulacan.