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Business assistance 30 April 2008 |
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LAST Friday, April 25,
2008, the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Inter-Agency
Coordinating Committee (ICC) met for its 11th Regular Meeting at the
country’s most progressive development banking institution, the
Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP). As a heavy downpour darkened the Makati skyline, and the distractions of another summer weekend beckoned, the committee buckled down to work — chipping away at nagging problems like competitive lending rates and deployment of loans to borrowers in direst need. Penetration, access and cost remain to be the bigger challenges to the MSME program, but there is focus to bring the rates within the range of 6 percent, and the determination to thresh out policy and operational issues to make that possible. One of the highlights of the meeting was the presentation made by DBP Senior Vice President Corazon Conde on the bank’s programs that impact on MSMEs. Already on its 61st year, DBP’s priority thrusts are on infrastructure and logistics, the environment, social services and MSME development. For the micro, small and medium enterprises, DBP has released a total of R15.164 billion as of 2007 in loans – R2.489 billion for Micro; R2.973 billion for Small and R9.702 billion for Medium enterprises. For the year 2007 alone, a total amount of R8.5 billion in loans was released, with the highest percentage going to the National Capital Region (NCR) at 27.42 percent, or R2.334 billion. Significantly, Western Visayas or Region VI accounted for 66.8 percent of approved loans (1,264), representing 2.96 percent (R252 million) of total amount released. In looking into the challenges of penetration and access by the small borrowers, there must surely be some lessons to be learned from DBP Region VI. In sharp contrast, NCR accounted for only 3.54 percent or 67 of the loans approved. Regions III (Central Luzon), IV (Southern Tagalog) and VII (Central Philippines) accounted for 6.99 percent of approved loans, and 31.09 percent or R2.646 billion of loans released. Central Mindanao had only one account approval, for an amount hardly a tenth of one percent of total loans released. DBP has a variety of schemes for financing MSMEs, but the One-Town-One-Product or OTOP program is its centerpiece. The schemes include financing of: Exporters, Suppliers/Service Providers and Franchisers; Portfolio Purchase; Multipurpose; High Value Commercial Crops; Organic Agriculture; Cleaner Public Transport; OFW i-Net Negosyo; DBP Financial Assistance to OFWs and DBP Microfinance Program. All these lending programs, and many other services necessary for putting up an enterprise, may be accessed through DBP’s Business Assistance Centers (BAC). These are "one-stop shops" that provide research and development, assist in marketing thru on-line registration and business matching, identify and endorse projects to DBP/Participating Financial Institutions, provide credit access and banking services to SMEs, assign a business counselor that could assist in business planning, diagnosis, profit improvement and compliance with loan requirements. In a unique approach to capture the spirit of research and learning and the discipline of enterprise at the centers, DBP has tapped State Universities and Colleges as host for its BACs. For Luzon, eight (8) BACs are at the following SUCs — Mariano Marcos State University; Benguet State University; Pangasinan State University; Pampanga Agricultural College; Roosevelt College System; SME Association of Occidental Mindoro, Inc.; Camarines Sur Agricultural College and the Palawan State University. In the Visayas, four (4) BACs are located each at Aklan State University, Central Philippines University, Foundation University and the Cebu State College of Science and Technology. And for Mindanao, two (2) BACs were established at the MASICAP Foundation, Davao City and Unlad Kabayan Migrant Services. Beyond the BACs, and for market information and business matching opportunities, clients can access and check on these two (2) DBP websites: DBP4sme.ph and buyphilippines.com.ph. If all else fails in your quest for business assistance, call VP Cora Conde. She is sure to have the answer for your MSME question. |
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