Thursday, September 27, 2007 Australia allocates $20.5 million for SMEs By Ben O. Tesiorna
THE Australian government through AusAID has allocated $20.5 million to help small businesses in the Philippines, in a bid to eliminate poverty.
The AusAID's Enterprise Challenge Fund for the Pacific and South-East Asia aims to stimulate growth and ensure that the poor are included in the benefits and opportunities provided by that growth and to provide access to employment and markets, which is vital to generate a sustainable reduction in poverty.
The white paper "Australian Aid: Promoting Growth and Stability" strongly emphasized the private sector as a driver of growth and it foreshadowed the development of a pilot program to support private sector-led growth.
Through open competition, grants of $100,000 to $1.5 million will be awarded to business projects with pro-poor outcomes that cannot obtain financing from commercial sources.
At least 50 percent of the project cost must be met by the partner business, and all projects must be commercially self-sustaining within three years.
The ECF was launched last July in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, eastern Indonesia, and the Philippines.
The first round of grants awarded in early 2008. ECF rollout to Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Cambodia, Laos and East Timor will follow in early 2008.
Jason Magnaye, ECF-Philippines country manager, said they will be holding a press conference on October 4 at the Marco Polo Hotel in Davao City to explain more about the project. He described it though as a new, innovative opportunity for businesses to develop a commercially sustainable business enterprise whilst contributing to poverty reduction.
