The Manila Times

Concepcion commits to accelerate MSME programs

BY CATHERINE S. VALENTE AND BERNADETTE TAMAYO

GO Negosyo founder Jose Maria “Joey” Concepcion 3rd on Wednesday committed to helping the government accelerate its programs for the country’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Concepcion, a member of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s Private Sector Advisory Council, made the commitment following his appointment as a member of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Council (MSMEDC) of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

The Go Negosyo founder will represent Luzon at the MSMEDC, the agency responsible for the promotion, growth and development of MSMEs in the Philippines.

“One of our priorities is to help micro and small entrepreneurs because if we want jobs to continue to grow in this country, we have to accelerate our MSMEs, especially micro and to make their businesses more profitable,” Concepcion said during a Laging Handa public briefing.

He said both the private sector and the government are working together to help those “survival entrepreneurs” strengthen their businesses.

That’s why the public-private partnership of Go Negosyo, the DTI and Department of Agriculture really continues, from the previous administration of [former] president [Rodrigo] Duterte and especially now with President Marcos,” Concepcion said.

“What’s important for our country is we must make our country continue to grow, and those that contributed to growth are the entrepreneurs out there, from the biggest to the smallest,” he added.

Concepcion, an advocate of the sector, believed that upgrading and upskilling MSMEs could have a great impact on the country’s economy.

He earlier said that MSMEs make up 99 percent of the entire business community and hire 60 percent of the entire workforce.

“What’s important here is we have to make sure that the entrepreneur also has a skill, whether he is good at marketing, retailing, or culinary. So, all of these together will make the entrepreneurs have a better chance to succeed,” Concepcion said.

He cited the Go Negosyo’s Kapatid Angat Lahat Agri Program (Kalap), which stands to benefit small farmers by incorporating them into the value chain of large agribusiness companies and creating jobs in the agricultural sector.

“Now here in the Kalap group, we have all the biggest corporations here in agriculture, and we discussed in our meetings, how do we create more skills in this country?” he added.

The proponents of Kalap earlier said that the program aims “to promote inclusive growth, sustainability, competitiveness and development in the Philippines by leveraging the potential of MSMEs, smallholder farmers and fisherfolk.”

The primary agricultural commodities and industries that Kalap wants to focus on are rice, coconut, tobacco, coffee, cacao, sugarcane and corn/feeds/livestock.

Following Go Negosyo’s advocacy, Kalap aims to provide MSMEs access to the three M’s — mentorship, access to money and market — that are necessary for entrepreneurship to succeed.

Kalap is part of the larger Kapatid Angat Lahat initiative, which was first conceived by Go Negosyo in 2016.

“Kalap is a public-private partnership (PPP) at work, and perhaps the most important PPP that we will undertake,” Concepcion earlier said.

“It is in agriculture that we find a large number of the microentrepreneurs — the micro farmers, and it is they who need the most help. It is in this sector where a multiplier effect of jobs and enterprises, growth in communities away from the urban centers, can happen,” he added.

In a related development, the Senate passed on third and final reading the proposed bill institutionalizing the shared service facilities (SSF) project to ensure its continued funding.

Voting 22-0-0, the senators on Monday approved on third and final reading Senate Bill (SB) 2021, which amends Republic Act 6977 or the “Magna Carta for Small Enterprises.”

With the SSFs, MSMEs can utilize machinery, equipment and tools that they need to improve their production, processes and overall competitiveness.

Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, principal author and sponsor of the bill, said the SSF project of the Department of Trade Industry will go a long way in supporting the growth and development of MSMEs.

A total of 3,484 SSFs and 43 SSF fabrication laboratories (fab labs) have been established across the country.

The senator said the SSF funding will now be “ensured annually” in the General Appropriations Act for the implementation of the projects that benefit thousands of MSMEs nationwide since its inception in 2013.

“There were years when the SSF project was not funded and this is what will be addressed with this bill,” Angara said.

He said SSFs “could be as simple as sewing machines to more complex machines like 3D printers that are housed in SSF fab labs that MSMEs can use usually for a small fee.”

Through these SSFs, the MSMEs “can scale up their production, improve on their packaging and introduce innovations to their products,” Angara said.

“We want more of our small businesses to succeed, and it is the responsibility of the government to help them in whatever way that it can. The SSF project is one such intervention that has been proven to work and benefit the MSMEs,” he said.

“This is all part of our Tatak Pinoy (Proudly Pinoy) advocacy that seeks to improve the capabilities of our industries to help them produce more goods that are complex and sophisticated so that they would grow and become more competitive and consequently, produce quality, high-paying jobs for our people,” Angara added.

The fab labs, he said, were showcased at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic when they were used for the manufacturing of face shields, face masks, medical gowns, aerosol boxes and ethyl alcohol to cater to the huge demand while the importation of these supplies was still undergoing.

Under the bill, SSF fab labs will be established in at least one strategic location in every province. Priority will be given to provinces without existing fab labs.

SSFs are managed by “cooperators” which are usually cooperatives, people’s organizations, industry associations, local government units, and state universities and colleges for the common use of the small businesses.

Regions

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2023-05-25T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-05-25T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://manilatimes.pressreader.com/article/281676849279129

The Manila Times