Leyte guv emphasized private sector’s role in economic development

By Provincial Media Relations Center
October 20, 2012

TACLOBAN CITY  –  Leyte Gov. Carlos Jericho Petilla said the private sector still remains to be the main driver for local economic development as well as the growth of small and medium enterprise in the province and the region.

The governor disclosed, during the culmination convention of the Leyte Private Sector Promotion - Small and Medium Enterprise Development for Sustainable Employment Program (PSP-SMEDSEP), that the “government alone cannot support all efforts towards SME’s development, but more help from the private will help achieve that.”

“Eversince, I have espoused that the government is a ‘poor businessman’. And that it cannot in any way compete with the private sector. The government can only act as support to any local economic development as well as the growth of small and medium enterprise,” Gov. Petilla said.

Highlights of the program included a presentation of business opportunities for MSMEs and LGUs by cooperating national government agencies, one-on-one consultation by MSMEs and LGUs who wish to avail services offered by agencies, giving of special awards to PSP-SMEDSEP stakeholders who made a major and significant contribution to PSP-SMEDSEP success stories and gains in Leyte; signing of covenant of commitment and support to celebrate the long partnership among key PSP-SMEDSEP players for the development of the MSMEs in the province.

PSP-SMEDSEP is a joint program of the DTI and the GIZ in support of the Philippine economic development strategy. It started in September 2003 which program objective is “to improve the framework conditions for private sector development in the Philippines, especially in the Visayas.”

The program involves planning, developing and implementing promotion models for small enterprise development and competitiveness, according to Belas.

The DTI and SMEDSEP have also worked together in other development initiatives such as the simplification of business registration process, cash flow based lending, private sector provision of business development services and promotion of value chains.

SMEDSEP contributes to the efforts of the Philippine government to improve the framework conditions for private sector development in the country. It is implemented in partnership with the DTI at the national, regional and provincial levels on behalf of the Philippine government and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

In 2003, The Philippine government, in partnership with the Federal Republic of Germany, initiated a private sector promotion program to create a more favourable business environment for MSMEs in the Visayas. In time this program became popularly known as PSP SMEDSEP.