Priority support urged for SMEs

MANILA, Philippines - Providing support for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should be given priority to allow the sector to tap opportunities with the upcoming Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) integration, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said.

“As we move towards the ASEAN integration in 2015, supporting SMEs should be more than ever prioritized by members. SMEs must embrace the AEC (ASEAN Economic Community) as a means towards achieving their own growth potential, where goods and services can now freely move across ASEAN,” DTI undersecretary Zenaida C. Maglaya said during the 4th ASEAN SME Advisory Board Meeting.

She noted that the world is waiting for what would happen in 2015 with the full establishment of the AEC.

The AEC, which would be in place by Dec. 31 of next year, is expected to transform ASEAN into a region with free flow of goods, services, skilled labor, investments and capital.

Maglaya said there are opportunities with the upcoming AEC as the region has a market of over 600 million consumers and a combined gross domestic product of nearly $3 trillion.

By 2020, the region’s GDP is expected to reach $4 trillion.

Maglaya noted that as in most ASEAN member states, the SME sector is a key contributor to the Philippines’ economic growth.

“Accounting for 99.6 percent of total business establishments and 60 percent of total employment in the country, there is vast potential to enhance the SMEs’ contribution to the economy,” she said.

As such, a regional agenda for SMEs under the ASEAN Strategic Plan of Action for SMEs is seen to be important to provide guidance to member states.

“Indeed, we see 2014 as the turning year, which will determine our ultimate achievement by 2015. For the next year and beyond, we encourage our private sector partners to join us in putting to reality our vision to promote innovative, competitive and resilient ASEAN SMEs as the new engine of growth that would contribute to the equitable economic growth,” Maglaya said.

The ASEAN SME Advisory Board provides strategic policy inputs on SME development to the ASEAN Economic Ministers.

The SME Advisory Board also serves as a forum for networking among private sector representatives to advance SME competitiveness and sustainability.