DTI cites women entrepreneurs
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) remains committed and supportive of Filipino women's economic empowerment through its various entrepreneurial and business programs, recognizing their important role in the country's economic development and inclusive growth goals.
"Here in the Philippines, women have come a long way. With the full support of the government, we will continue to exert much effort to ensure that they continue to do so for they are central in realizing our shared vision of sustainable and inclusive growth," said DTI Undersecretary Nora Terrado, who delivered the keynote address on behalf of DTI Secretary Gregory Domingo before participants of the strategic dialogue on how to develop economies that work for women.
At the United Nation’s Entity for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, which hosted the dialogue, Terrado cited the many steps and measures taken by the government in addressing the constraints to women's economic empowerment.
"The Philippine Development Plan for 2011-2016 affirmed that the principal development goals of lasting, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, poverty reduction, and food security can only be achieved hand in hand with gender equality. The logic was simple and irrefutable. Development cannot be achieved with only 50 percent of the population participating and benefiting," Terrado said.
According to the DTI Undersecretary, appropriate laws and policies were adopted to provide an enabling environment for women’s empowerment with emphasis on improving competitiveness and sustainability of women’s micro enterprises.
Just last year, the Go Negosyo Act (Republic Act 10644 otherwise known as Go Into Business Act) was passed. It promotes job creation and inclusive growth through the development of micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and has a section that specifically provides for support to women and youth.
A series of laws were also passed before that to promote and support the role of women in development. These laws include Republic Act 9501, the Magna Carta for MSMEs, enacted in 2008 and Republic Act 7882, an act providing assistance to women engaged in micro and cottage business enterprise, enacted in 1995 that directs government financial institutions to allocate 5 percent of their funds for loans to women.
In translating these laws into operational programs, the DTI forged strong partnerships with the private sector and garnered the support of international donor agencies.
“With these, we have managed to provide women entrepreneurs with increased access to government services,” Terrado said.
Three out of five beneficiaries who accessed DTI’s Enterprise Development Program last year were women entrepreneurs. “The services they availed included entrepreneurial skills and technology upgrading and training; product design; market matching; participation in trade fairs, international expositions and business missions; among others,” she said.
Women entrepreneurs also increased their access to the financing programs of the Small Business Corp., the SME financing guarantee arm of DTI. Women comprised 43 percent of those who availed of small business loans in 2014 equal to 274 million, a dramatic increase from 17 percent in 2009 that came to only 37 million in 2009.
"Women are key players in the micro, small and medium sector that comprise 99 percent of the country's businesses and account for up to 70 percent of employment," she said. She also cited a recent survey conducted by the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) which revealed that 63 percent of managers or business owners were women and of this number, 52 percent were micro entrepreneurs while the rest were owners of small and medium enterprises.
"DTI's latest business registration data also showed that 54 percent of enterprises registering trade names are female-owned," she said.
Terrado also cited the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor study which showed that of 42 countries, the Philippines ranked second in terms of entrepreneurially-active females.
"With the business sector expected to be the main engine of growth, enhancing women's economic empowerment becomes indispensible to achieving more inclusive and sustainable economic growth," she said.
One particular private sector initiative is that of the country’s largest telecommunications firm PLDT SME Nation. In partnership with PLDT Smart Foundation, Business & Professional Women (BPW), PLDT SME Nation launched of the GREAT Women ICT Platform.
GREAT Women is an integrated platform to address gender issues in both micro and social enterprise development. The goal is to deliver a truly inclusive economic development, and help women ascend the supply and value chain by providing them with economic empowerment.
The long-term direction is to expand industry and professional groupings via the online platform where women can nurture and grow their own value or supply chain for their businesses or professions.
This initiative falls under the GREAT Women Program, which started in the Philippines in 2006 as a convergence of national and local government agencies, women’s groups, and private sector groups aimed at improving local business policy, projects and services for women in business.
“In our effort to enable SMEs through ICT, PLDT SME Nation is proud to take part in this meaningful program which underscores women’s role in shaping and driving enterprises in the Philippines,” said PLDT First Vice President and Head of SME Business Kat Luna-Abelarde.