Celebrating the Filipino entrepreneur

This week has been a whirlwind of activities. We celebrated MSME Development Week together with the Department of Trade and Industry and the MSME Development Council. Working with my colleagues at the MSMED Council, with Undersecretary for MSME Development Group Cris Roque and Sec. Alfredo Pascual, we shined the spotlight on MSMEs and their role in the country’s development.

Two big events bookmarked the celebrations: the National MSME Summit and the Presidential Awards for Outstanding MSMEs. Both events were held successfully and had the enthusiastic participation of MSMEs from all parts of the country.

These events are because of Republic Act 9501, also known as the Magna Carta for MSMEs. It was signed into law by former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2008. I founded Go Negosyo in 2005, around the same time that president GMA appointed me Presidential Consultant on Entrepreneurship. In the ASEAN, SME development became a priority in 1995 when policy and resources began to be focused on this segment of the regional economy.

Those were watershed years for MSMEs; never before has there been such a concerted effort to help small businessmen scale up and work side by side with the large corporations in pushing the economy forward. Their sheer numbers and the many jobs they create and opportunities they give to the mass of our countrymen had been for years vastly underestimated, so it came as a validation when so much focus and resources were dedicated to their growth and development.

It was a proud moment when I witnessed the awarding of the Presidential Awards for Outstanding MSMEs last July 10. It had been 15 years since these awards were given out, and I have to thank President Marcos and Sec. Pascual for reviving this program. When the President himself gives importance to MSMEs by recognizing the outstanding ones, this just emphasizes their role in achieving our goal of becoming an upper-middle income nation.

And the buzz is growing. So many in the private sector are hopping on the bandwagon and making MSMEs part of their programs to contribute to sustainable development goals. It’s been a long time coming and indeed a welcome development. The more big-brother companies we have helping MSMEs scale up, the better it is for everyone, big or small.

And we see so much potential in MSMEs. One only needs to meet the winners of the Presidential Awards for Outstanding MSMEs to appreciate how much an MSME can achieve with innovation and dedication to craft.

Out of the 13 finalists in the small and medium categories for the awards, two were chosen: Davao-based Malagos Agri-Ventures under the Medium Enterprises category and Negros Oriental-based Kawayan Collective under the Small Enterprise Category.

Malagos Agri-Ventures makes the internationally acclaimed Malagos Chocolate, which has won recognition both for the quality of its premium single-origin and tree-to-bar chocolates as well as its fair-trade practices with local cacao farmers.

Kawayan Collective, meanwhile, specializes in bamboo treatment to create a diverse range of bamboo products such as engineered panels, prefabrication models and starter house kits and leverages on the expertise of traditional bamboo craftsmen.

Both companies use native resources: Malagos capitalizes on the fact that the Philippines sits on the famed cacao belt along the equator, while Kawayan Collective harnesses the potential of the ubiquitous bamboo and even innovates new products from the waste generated from manufacture. As the President said during his speech, these companies “show us what an ideal local enterprise should look like – environmentally conscious, community-driven and socially responsible.”

The story of these awardees also prove just how important it is for MSMEs to have access to money, markets and mentoring for them to scale up. Our programs at Go Negosyo revolve around providing MSMEs access to these three pillars. For MSMEs to fully realize their potential to power the economy, we must enable them to do so: to help the micro become small, the small become medium and the medium enterprises to join the ranks of the country’s large corporations.

And it is the right time for this to become possible. Digital technology is enabling them to leapfrog their way to markets, mentoring and even capital. Countless small entrepreneurs are learning new skills by simply watching tutorials on YouTube, new customers are getting to know MSME products and services over social media and digital financing solutions are making it easy to overcome roadblocks to accessing capital.

At the MSME Summit, we hosted talks about how to sell on the popular social media platform TikTok. Who knew that this short-video format platform once used by kids to show off their dancing skills would one day become an enabling tool for entrepreneurs? We had executives from Small Business Corp., Maya, GCash, GoTyme and Esquire Financing talking about integrating digital technologies into financial operations to enhance growth and sustainability of MSMEs. And then we were introduced to several DTI initiatives that will no doubt break down barriers and enable more of our MSMEs to thrive.

We also gave out awards to the year’s Most Inspiring Microentrepreneurs. The ten microentrepreneurs who received the award showed creativity, innovation and grit. Their inspiring entrepreneurial journeys and good business practices are examples to other Filipinos to start and grow their own businesses.

One would be surprised at how creative and varied these microenterprises are. One of them makes plant-based candles, another makes custom wedding gowns for overseas-based Pinoy couples, one runs a childhood learning center, there’s a stay-at-home mom who built a business around the needs of breastfeeding mothers and so many more among the shortlisted microentrepreneurs who saw a need in their community and filled it with an innovative business.

Awards like these – the Presidential Award for MSMEs and the Most Inspiring Entrepreneurs Awards – are important for several reasons. They give credibility to the winning MSMEs and enable them to have a foothold in bigger markets, not to mention creditability with lending institutions. They gain exposure that would otherwise have cost them millions. And finally, they help build confidence among other entrepreneurs that it is possible for an MSME to gain national recognition and be rewarded for its achievements.