Workshop tackled ways to upgrade MSME sector

CEBU, Philippines - Findings and observations across developed and developing countries showed that most micro and small enterprises (MSEs) stagnate and suffer in their productivity levels, thus resulting in minimal contribution to industrial competitiveness.

With this observation, the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwick lungs politik (DIE) and the University of the Philippines Institute for Small Scale Industries (UP ISSI) recently organized a roundtable workshop to discuss and find out how MSEs in emerging and developing economies could upgrade into medium and large sized firms.

In cooperation with UP-Cebu and the University of San Carlos, the event was held yesterday at Harolds Hotel in Lahug, Cebu City.

The workshop was attended by members of the MSMED Council, MSMEs in the food processing, textiles and garments, footwear and leather sectors, relevant industry associations and chambers, financing institutions, academe and government agencies.

Themed “Enterprise Upgrading: Insights from the Experiences of the Philippines, Egypt and India” , the workshop was intended to serve as a platform wherein experts, industry players and government agencies could share and discuss the findings of the studies conducted by the three countries on MSE upgrading.

It was designed to be an avenue to derive policy recommendations and customize action points for implementation in accelerating the growth of the Philippine MSME sector within the context of the 2011-2016 MSME Development Plan.

DIE Department of Competitiveness and Social Development head Tilman Altenburg discussed the significance of MSME upgrading based on evidences from the three countries while DIE institutional and agricultural economist Aimee Hampel- Milagrosa tackled about the findings and conclusions from the MSME upgrading project in the Philippines.

Elpe Canoog and Maika Schmidt of the Promotion of Green Economic Development Project (ProGED) of Deutsche Gesellschaftfür Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH shared the experiences in SME upgrading in the country.

Meanwhile, Department of Trade and Industry – Region VII director Asteria Caberte raised the challenges and opportunities of SME upgrading within the context of the Philippine MSMED Plan 2011 – 2016.

Other speakers included UP-ISSI director Nestor Raneses and UP-Cebu dean Liza Corro.

Break-out sessions were also conducted among the representatives of the government sector as policy makers and decision makers, industry and service sectors as industry leaders and entrepreneurs and the academe as researchers and development advocates.

In 2012, DIE has conducted a three-day country research project on “Micro and Small Enterprise Upgrading in Egypt, India and the Philippines” together with its partners in Germany and project countries.

It was based on re-tracing success stories of small, medium and large-sized enterprises that grew out and developed from the micro segment.

It aimed to determine critical success factors for enterprise upgrading and derived conclusions and action points for policy makers, decision makers, researchers and other key stakeholders. /JOB (FREEMAN)