The Duterte administration is allocating P3.5 billion in financial faclity to increase the number of small and medium enterprises. contributed photo

As the number of registered micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) jumped from 900,000 in 2017 to 1.39 million in 2018, the Department of Trade and Industry Regional Office Group (DTI-ROG) is looking at surpassing success figures in the year ahead.

DTI “kept its eyes on the ball in pushing for the entrepreneurial revolution in the countryside,” trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said in a press conference detailing the department’s achievements owing to comprehensive programs for MSME.

As for funding, the agency, which aims to provide micro entrepreneurs an alternative to the 5-6 lending scheme, has reached 65,000 beneficiaries under its Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso (P3) program with the release of a total of P2.40 billion to 290 accredited conduits in 73 provinces nationwide.

The program offers a maximum monthly interest rate of 2.5 percent with no collateral.

Lopez said they may also reach 80,000 borrowers ye, since the agency has been able to re-lend the repaid loans from previous borrowers, bringing the initial P2 billion facility to P2.4 billion.

“But we have to wait for the 2019 budget approval for the new P1.5 billion fund to cover more borrowers. We look with optimism that the budget will be approved soon,” he said.

Once the P3.5 billion budget has been approved, the agency is looking at 60,000 new and additional borrowers.

In their report, DTI said that as of November last year, its Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program had extended assistance of various types to 1,207 agrarian reform communities and 153 non-agrarian communities. The effort generating a total investment of P1.660 billion as well as 146,561 jobs, lead to total sales of P3.568 billion.

For 2019, the ROG aims to raise the number of generated jobs to 171,000 and generate P4.3 million in sales with P1.8 billion in investments.

The agency also surpassed annual targets for its agri-based national priority industry clusters, such as coco coir, rubber, coffee, cacao, bamboo, palm oil, processed fruits and nuts and wearables and homestyles.

Total investments for the priority industries amounted to P2.333 million while 114,547 jobs were generated, surpassing the target for investments by 107 percent and the jobs by 123 percent.

The ROG also reported 459 trade fairs under DTI’s One Town One Product initiative. The fairs were participated in by a total of 7,698 MSME and reported sales amounting P770 million.

“The ROG will continue to support MSMEs in their entrepreneurial journey thru effective and efficient delivery of programs that will enhance their competitiveness and gear them up to be part of the global and value chain,” MSME Development Advocate Undersecretary Zenaida Cusion-Maglaya remarked.