Around 30,000 new businesses
registered from Jan to May 2019
Total registered
businesses now 1.42 million
From
L to R: DTI Undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya, DTI Secretary
and MSMED Council Chair Ramon Lopez, Presidential Adviser on
Entrepreneurship and MSMED Council Vice Chairman Jose Ma.
Concepcion III, and Go Negosyo Adviser on MSME Development
Merly Cruz at the 11th MSMED Council meeting on 14 May 2019. |
By
DTI-OSEC-PRU
May 20, 2019
MAKATI – The MSME
Development (MSMED) Council reported that registered businesses in
the Philippines climbed to 1.42 million in May 2019 from 1.39
million in December 2018. This is around 30,000 new businesses in
five months. Trade Secretary and MSMED Council Chair Ramon Lopez
said this indicates that it’s a good time to do business in the
Philippines, given that the country is the 2nd fastest growing
economy in the ASEAN region.
During the 11th MSME
Development Council meeting on 14 May 2019, Sec. Lopez said that
programs for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) should be
felt at the barangay-level. The MSMED Council, composed of public
and private sector representatives, is the group tasked to advance
the interests of Filipino MSMEs.
“Part of fulfilling
President Rodrigo Duterte’s promise of Tapang at Malasakit is
providing job and business options to help Filipinos live more
comfortable lives. So even if the DTI’s budget is only up to the
provincial-level, we will find ways for our programs to reach MSMEs
at the grassroots,” said Sec. Lopez.
The Department of Trade
and Industry (DTI) further committed to inform the public on the
benefits of the Barangay Micro Business Enterprise (BMBE) law. Sec.
Lopez clarified that entrepreneurs can still register as single
proprietors in DTI, even after the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) allowed the registration of one-person
corporations. This is due to the much simpler registration
requirements in DTI.
The MSMED Council is also
looking into synchronizing statistics produced by the Philippine
Statistics Authority (PSA) and the National Economic Development
Authority (NEDA) on MSMEs. It also wants to count the MSMEs in the
informal sector, or those who have yet to get business permits.
These statistics, according to the Council, will help DTI, Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), and other finance institutions grasp
where microfinancing is needed.
Upcoming events for MSMEs
include the MSME Summit in July and the three-leg Youth
Entrepreneurship Program Roadshow in Visayas by June, Cebu by July,
and Luzon by November.
Also present during the
MSMED Council meeting were Presidential Adviser on Entrepreneurship
and MSMED Council Vice Chairman Jose Ma. Concepcion III, DTI
Undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya, Assistant Secretaries Jean Pacheco
and Blesila Lantayona, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Director Pia
Roman-Tayag, Small Business Corporation OIC-EVP Melvin Abando,
Credit Information Corporation (CIC) President Jaime Garchitorena
and private sector representatives Jim Ayala (MSME Sector), Jeannie
Javelosa (Women), Archie Florendo (Youth), and representatives from
the labor, banking, and microfinance sectors.