Arroyo cites SMEs' role

from Visayan Daily Star

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo cited the importance of Small and Medium Enterprises in national development and the fight against poverty at the program marking the SME Development Week in Taguig City yesterday.

The celebration of SME Week on the theme "Sulong Negosyo," is in recognition of the important role of SMEs in national development, Arroyo said in a press statement.

According to statistics of the Department of Trade and Industry, SMEs, dubbed as the backbone of the Philippine economy, comprise 99.6 percent of all registered firms nationwide, employ 69.9 percent of the labor force, and contribute 32 percent to the economy. Small enterprises are those which have assets between P3.001 million and P15 million and employees from 10 to 99 while medium enterprises, have assets between P15.001 million and P100 million and workers from 100 to 199.

Arroyo said at the program that she instructed DTI Secretary Peter Favila to conduct a National Competitiveness Summit to entice entrepreneurs to invest in their own businesses, the press statement said.

Favila had earlier presented to the president a progress report on the implementation of the 2004-2010 SME Development Plan.

He said that DTI has enhanced overall SME competitiveness, increased productivity, product quality, output and sale only two years into its implementation.

Through the SME Development Plan, he said DTI was able to facilitate total combined exports sales of $188 million and domestic sales of P176 million, Fabila added.