AN ASSURANCE to implement programs for inclusive growth of the micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) sector and scaling up of the information and communication technology (ICT) are among these sectors would like to hear from President Rodrigo Duterte’s State of the Nation Address Monday.
Mary Ann Colmenares, chairman of the Provincial MSME Development Council of Negros Occidental, said Sunday, July 23, they hope to see the implementation of the action plans agreed upon by all Asean trade ministers.
Colmenares said that during the recent Asean SME Summit held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City, industry stakeholders presented the “Manila Call to Action” which consists of 15 ways to MSME development.
These include integration of entrepreneurship values and skills in the educational system at all levels, assertion of centrality of MSME development towards dynamic and inclusive economies, and supporting and pursuing Asean mentorship for entrepreneurs (Amen) initiative.
“We want to hear assurance from the President that he will help work for the realization of these action plans,” she added.
The “Manila Call to Action” also seeks to develop, promote and expand alternative financial instruments, provide appropriate regulatory framework for banks and financial institutions, and adopt initiatives to help strengthen credit worthiness for MSMEs.
Colmenares said that for inclusive development to be fully realized, the call to action included establishment of an Asean Research and Development Center, and improvement of responsiveness of machine and technology assistance to MSME requirements.
Other key components are expanding knowledge sharing on non- propriety technology; pursuing a unified Asean digital marketplace; strengthening the compliance system on quality standards; and widening linkages via business matching support and better information systems.
Also included are developing starter kit map with business models for start-ups; promoting social enterprises highlighting community-based approaches to enterprise development; and fostering wider MSME clustering via collective mechanism.
The local ICT sector, meanwhile, urged the president to make job generation and flow of investments happen.
Lawyer Jocelle Batapa-Sigue, executive director of Bacolod-Negros Occidental Federation of ICT (BNEFIT), said they want to hear from the Sona concrete measures on scaling up of job generation and investment strategies in the countryside.
This is very pressing especially in the advent of the fourth industrial revolution where a strong digital economy is imperative, Batapa-Sigue said.
“We want to know what happened to the promise of improvement on public services through the use of e-governance especially in the local government level which was mentioned in his first Sona," she added.
