DBP to open center to assist MSMEs

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

TO HELP micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in growing their businesses, state-owned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) will launch its SME Center-Network for Entrepreneurship and Enhancement Development (Need) facility next month.

According to DBP senior vice president B. Brillo Reynes, the facility will provide business planning assistance to would-be entrepreneurs, particularly those from the MSME sector.

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Reynes said they are coordinating with different government agencies for the facility.

Government agencies

He said the facility will have representatives from different government agencies to assist MSMEs. Among the agencies that will be fielding representatives are the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Science and Technology, Securities and Exchange Commission, Intellectual Property Office and DBP.

“The aim of setting up this facility is to help our MSMEs in enterprise registration, access to technology, markets and funds,” Reynes said.

The proposed SME Center will also have training rooms, computer facilities, and conference rooms, among others.

Reynes said the SME Center facility will also be made accessible to students as they plan to tap student-entrepreneurs for on-the-job-training.

During a presentation on Monday, Reynes said the country needs to uplift its MSME sector because of its large contribution to the country’s economic growth.

Citing the MSME Development Plan, Reynes said the business environment, access to finance and markets, productivity and efficiency are among the key challenges in growing the sector.

“We need to help the sector become competitive in light of globalization,” Reynes said.

He said the growth of MSMEs is severely affected by the influx of foreign competitors.

Access to funds

Reynes said SMEs don’t even apply for accreditation to access foreign markets. He said access to finance is one factor that hampers growth of the sector.

According to Reynes, of the three categories in the sector, it is the small entrepreneurs who are most in need of financial support.

“We already are aggressive in terms of micro-financing. In fact, we ranked No. 2 in the world in terms of supporting micro-enterprises. Medium enterprises, on the other hand, are supported by universal and commercial banks. It is the financing for small enterprises that lack regulatory framework that is in need of support,” he said.

Of the 777,000 enterprises in the country today, 91.3 percent of these are micro-enterprises. Sixty-two thousand are small enterprises, while 3,000 are medium enterprises.

The DBP, under its new charter, is classified as a development bank and can perform all other functions of a thrift bank. Its primary objective is to provide banking services principally to medium and long-term needs of agricultural and industrial enterprises with emphasis on small and medium-scale industries.