The small and medium enterprises in the country have remained weak due to lack of support from the government, and are not prepared for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations integration, according to Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Most SMEs are unstable because of financial and institutional constraints and stiff competition with larger enterprises, Marcos said.
In a statement, Marcos said SMEs have been the most vulnerable sector in the Asean integration given the non-tariff barriers which make markets more open and more competitive.
He said that SMEs need to access government resources and those coming from other financial institutions to be able to improve their products and operations.
In this aspect, Marcos pointed out, that government has failed them because most of them still find it difficult to access loans and other forms of financial assistance.
“The government lack full support to SMEs. There is no easy access to capital and despite the Asean integration, access remains difficult,” he said.
He pointed out that aside from problems in accessing loan facilities, poor infrastructure and high cost of power are also keeping SMEs from achieving global competitiveness.
He said that SMEs are powerless in the Asean integration without full government support.
“Our country is now open to new and stronger businesses which may force our SMEs to shut down without government backing them up every step of the way,” he said.
He stated such scenario will be catastrophic to most Filipinos because SMEs comprise 99.6 percent of businesses registered in the country and provide 70 percent of the workforce.
But Marcos said it is not too late to help the SMEs because the country has enough laws with the necessary safeguards to assist them.
“We have many laws to extend assistance to them and that needs to be addressed and become strong in global competition,” he said.
Marcos added that product improvement and innovation and skills training should also be pursued to help their products become more competitive.
