DTI bares availability of funds for MSMEs

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) announced the availability of financial assistance to the country’s Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to empower the sector, which comprises 99 percent of the entire businesses in the country.

DTI undersecretary and head for regional operatives group Merly Cruz made this announcement during the opening of the two-day MSME National Conference held at the Marco Polo Plaza Cebu, Thursday.

Cruz said a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was recently signed by multi government agencies and government financial institutions (GFIs) to allocate dedicate fund for MSME credit facility.

The program she said will be in collaboration with the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (Finex).

The access to “easy” credit is one of the long overdue battle cry of the MSME sector in the Philippines, as most financial assistance are perceived to have stricter and tight requirements, which most small and medium businesses can not comply.

Cruz, however did not divulge the size of the fund to be made available for the MSME sector, saying the program is still being formulated with the help of FINEX.

The access to credit for MSME sector will be designed both for short term and long term loans, depending on the requirement of the borrower.

This and other new programs that will be implemented in favor of the development of the MSME players in the country will be announced soon, she said.

She added that this move is in line with President Benigno Aquino III’s administration’s thrust to make a “big push” in empowering and developing the MSME sector in the country.

The conference which was held in cooperation with the German government funded program, Deutsche Gessellschaft fur International Zusammenarbeit Private Sector Promotion Program (GIZ PSP).

Close to 200 participants from the MSME sector all over the country participated in the two-day conference, including officers of the local government units’ SMED (Small and Medium Enterprise Development) Councils, private sector representatives, and government agencies’ officers.

Cruz also introduced DTI’s new program called SME Pluz Development in order to push inclusive growth, which focuses on critical and potential sectors, such as agri-based products, ICT-enabled services, and products, tourism, among others.

Also, she said the government is going to intensify its program in encouraging more players in the MSME sector to take advantage of the existing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the Philippines and other countries.

Significantly, she said the government now is on its active move to encourage the grassroot-based businesses to grow and go into the mainstream market and expand its market based, by empowering them, providing mechanisms and technology know-how in maximizing profitability and marketability of their respective products and services.

“We are going to put the MSME players in the mainstream for them to participate in the local and global chain,” Cruz emphasized.

The MSME sector contributes two-thirds of the country’s employment generation. The current government’s target is for the sector to hit 2 million employment generation by 2016, and provide at least 40 percent contribution to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). (FREEMAN)