PH to push MSME Agenda beyond APEC

The Philippines will push its MSME (micro, small, medium enterprises) agenda into the front and center not just in APEC but beyond and into the wider and binding agreement of the multilateral trade body World Trade Organization.

Stressing the agenda of MSMEs as an easily defensible objective, Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory L. Domingo volunteered the Philippines to become one of the three vice-chairmen of the WTO.

"It is easy to push for this kind of agenda because this is the right thing to do, ‘ said Domingo, who will chair the APECSME Ministerial meeting in Iloilo this week.Domingo noted that MSMEs in the account for 99 percent of total businesses in the country. This sector accounts for two-thirds of total employment. But in terms of value, the MSME sector contributes only a third of the country's GDP.

In this year’s APEC, the Philippines has campaigned hard for the mainstreaming of MSMEs into the global value chains arguing that inclusive business policies should be made as an integral part of any business.

“Inclusive business policies should not be an after thought or a by the way thing, but an integral part from the very start,” he said.

In general, MSMEs cannot participate in the global value chains because they often lack the required sophistication.

“For the most part, MSMEs are also unable to participate in direct exports due to cumbersome procedures,” he said.

But data further suggest that MSMEs contribute up to 35 percent of a country’s exports and that between 20 and 80 percent of MSMEs are active exporters. They are also major contributors in innovation and economy particularly in collaboration with larger firms.

MSMEs integration in the supply chain of global firms has demonstrated improvement in human tech capital thus improving productivity. “The emergence of global supply chains and free trade agreements open doors for MSMEs to participate in trade,” he stressed.

Domingo will travel to Geneva end of this month to discuss and formalize the vicechairmanship position of the Philippines at the WTO.

Domingo will also represent the Philippines at the WTO Ministerial in Nairobi, Kenya in December this year.

Domingo said the Philippines actually volunteered as one of the three vice-chairmen of the WTO on hopes it could push its MSME agenda at APEC into a larger audience and more binding agreement of the WTO, which has 180 member countries as against APEC’s 21 countries. APEC agreements or deals are not also binding unlike WTO’s.

At the meeting of the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) in Boracay this year, the ministers approved a Boracay Action Agenda which strongly pushed for the MSME.

WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo, who was also a guest speaker at the MRT meeting, lauded the Philippines for taking the cudgel for the MSMEs and vowed to include the Boracay Agenda in WTO discussions.

The Philippines has chosen the theme "Inclusive Growth: A Better World" in this year's APEC hosting with emphasis on the integration of the MSMEs in the global value chain.

"So to attain inclusive growth, we make sure MSMEs thrive," Domingo stressed.

This is the reason, he said, the government has been putting in and implementing lots of support and interventions for MSMEs.

For instance, the goverment has enacted some measures like the Go Negosyo Act, which has paved the way for the establishments of Negosyo Centers all over the country to assist would be entrepreneurs.

Domingo also cited the Shared Services Facilities (SSF) of the DTI for the distribution of equipment and tools for use by micro enterprises, most of these are into agriculture and food processing, and arts and crafts.

The DTI has also launched its SME Roving Academy to conduct trainings to MSMEs. So far, the academy has also conducted a total of 3,000 trainings nationwide.