MANILA, July 12 — The Philippines must provide support for the further development of the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to ensure the relevance of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) integration and inclusive growth.
Gil Gonzales, Executive Director of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council, said the MSMEs should gain better access to finance, markets, innovation and capacity building or mentoring.
Gonzales also underscored the need for small enterprises to get access to platforms so they are connected with their peers in ASEAN regardless of the nature of their businesses.
“How do you empower the MSMEs that your micro (firms) after a while become small, they become part of the mainstream. After a while, your small becomes medium. Once they follow that kind of growth path, then you can be sure that jobs can be created, wealth can be created, prosperity can be created,” he said Tuesday during the ASEAN 2017 Dialogues: Business Beyond Borders.
He added MSMEs are the base of the economy, accounting for over 90 percent of businesses in the Philippines.
“That’s where inclusivity comes in. Inclusive growth simply means inclusive business wherein you have your conglomerates, you have your large corporations, making sure that part of their supply chain are directed, are drawn from MSMEs,” he stressed.
Gonzales pointed out that during the country’s ASEAN chairmanship this year, the region needs to focus on MSMEs to make the AEC relevant.
“If you not been convinced that AEC is the way to go, then you are missing a lot of opportunities. Because what is AEC after all is like, the counterpart of ‘build, build, build’ (program). This is markets, markets, markets,” he further said. (PNA)
