Micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are vital to the current administration’s thrust of promoting economic growth and bettering the lives of Filipinos. No less than President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is cognizant of this crucial role these businesses have in growing the economy, which is why he is closely working with the Department of Trade and Industry to think of ways to help the country’s MSMEs.
“The DTI will continue to lead the MSME Development Council in formulating a comprehensive strategy that will foster [a] dynamic industry ecosystem for our businesses…,” PBBM said in his speech at the 2024 Presidential Awards for Outstanding Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises and Presidential Recognition for Outstanding Development Partners last July 2024. “Currently, the DTI is working with the MSME Development Council and the Office of the President to finalize this Executive Order. So, let us collaborate on this endeavor and remind us that the way forward for MSMEs lies in our ability to innovate, collaborate, and to persevere.”
President Marcos and the DTI are blazing a trail forward for local MSMEs through a comprehensive five-point strategy aimed at boosting the country’s MSME sector to ultimately supercharge a steadily growing Philippine economy.
“If we uplift the MSMEs which is 99.5 percent, then that would really uplift the economy instantaneously that’s why there’s really a drive to really uplift and to level up the MSMEs as best as we can. And this is a quick way because, actually, the MSME are really ready to go—they just need to be helped, to be mentored and to be told what are the different programs that the Department of Trade and Industry has for them,” said Acting Trade Secretary Maria Cristina Aldeguer-Roque in a press briefing last August 2024.
Indeed, the DTI considers MSMEs as “growth engines of the Philippine economy.” The problem is, their success is often hindered by factors such as limited financial capacity and lack of access to innovation and advanced technology. These factors make it challenging for MSMEs to break into bigger markets and realize their full potential as drivers of economic growth. The agency, in response, established the MSME Development Plan to help MSMEs address the pain points that come with being small ventures with limited capital.
Sharing Is Caring: Helping MSMEs with Shared Service Facilities
One program the MSME Development Plan has rolled out in this regard is the Shared Service Facilities (SSF) Project designed to improve productivity and efficiency with the help of innovation and advanced technologies. First rolled out in 2013 as one of the agency’s flagship projects, the SSF is a public-private partnership initiative that aims to accelerate the competitiveness of MSMEs by giving them access to better and more sophisticated equipment, push them to the next level where they could tap into bigger markets, and address gaps and bottlenecks in the value chain to increase productivity and ensure sustainable income.
A pioneering strategy of the DTI in 2013, the SSF Project received positive reviews from the Philippine Institute of Development Studies, which was tasked by the Department of Budget and Management to assess government programs for budgeting purposes. The institute raved about the project’s success even in its infancy, praising it for creating substantial impact on jobs and productivity in its early implementation stage. Since then, the project has helped countless MSMEs ramp up production, improve productivity, and enhance efficiency—ultimately leading to higher incomes and greater success in job creation and in being sustainable enterprises.
The Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cluster (HDPRC) likewise viewed the SSF Project positively, noting its capacity to accelerate poverty reduction efforts. The HDPRC also identified this flagship initiative as one of the programs to support the Strategy on Enhanced Social Protection under HDPRC’s Performance Project Roadmaps for 2019–2022. The roadmap previously identified 32 provinces as priority areas, and SSFs are currently present in 30 of them, with facilities built in Apayao, Agusan del Sur, Bukidnon, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Cebu, and Davao del Sur, among others.
Today, the SSF Project continues to play a central role in the PBBM administration’s grand goal of paving the way forward for local MSMEs through innovation and collaboration. To date, the government has put up ₱3.20 billion for the project since its inception in 2013, funding a total of 3,582 facilities across the country and assisting over 600,000 MSMEs already. The project has also generated more than 300,000 employment opportunities nationwide, serving key industry clusters such as processed food, coffee, cacao, dairy, coconut, and metal. In two full years, the PBBM administration has allotted ₱313 million worth of funding for the DTI to build 240 modern facilities, mostly in largely underserved regions such as Region IX (65 facilities built), Region II (39), and Region XIII (17).
Vision Manifest: Continuing a Successful Program One Facility at a Time
SSF success stories highlight the project’s viability in empowering MSMEs—and there are many of them. The Abaca Processing Facility in Piñan, Zamboanga del Norte, built in partnership with the Santa Fe Upland Farmers Association and opened in August 2022, is just one of these success stories. With the SSF bringing over modern farming equipment and hi-tech farming implements, the Association’s farmers have been able to ramp up abaca fiber production exponentially. First, they scaled production up to 800–1,000 kilograms (kg) before increasing it further to 3,000–4,000 kg.
“Noon na wala pa kaming sapat na makinarya para sa aming abaca, medyo matumal ang pag-produce namin nang abaca fiber kasi mano-mano namin itong ginagawa. Pero nang nabigyan na kami ng mga decorticating machines mula sa DTI sa ilalim ng SSF Project, ay laking pasasalamat namin. Dahil dito, lumago ang aming produksyon mula 800 kg–1,000 kg hanggang sa umabot na ito sa 3,000 kg-4,000 kg ang na-proproduce naming abaca fiber,” said Juanito G. Dagpin, one of the farmers who are benefitting from the Abaca Processing Facility in Piñan.
According to Dagpin, the SSF’s help has not only helped increase abaca fiber production, but also the income of farmers like him. In addition, the DTI’s assistance has also created job opportunities for other members of the community.
“Nadagdagan na rin ang mga taong nabigyan nang karagdagang kabuhayan. Laking pasasalamat ulit namin sa SSF Project at binigyan kami ng spindle machine. ‘Yung combined decorticating and spindle machine ay siyang nakapagdulot ng paglago ng aming produksyon, pagbigay ng karagdagang trabaho sa aming komunidad, at paglaki pa lalo ng kita namin dahil mas in demand ang gawa nang spindle machine,” he added. Ako ay nagpapasalamat, sampu ng aming mga kasamahan, sa DTI at SSF program sa lahat nang tulong at biyayang pinagkaloob sa amin. Aasahan po ninyo na talagang gagamitin at palalawakin pa namin ang aming produksyon.”
The SSF on Community Plastic Station-Eco Cast Processing, opened in March 2023 in Baliuag, Bulacan is another SSF success story, helping the community take bold steps towards a circular economy through modern machinery. With the project, the city is able to lessen plastic waste while also providing junk shop operators and thrash collectors opportunities to make extra income. Plastics collected for this initiative are turned into shreds and used as part of cement and gravel mixture at the community plastic station and using eco-cast processing. Then, with the help of project partner Green Antz Builders, this mixture will be molded into eco-cast, concrete pavers, and concrete hollow blocks that are stronger, more durable, and more environment-friendly.
The Path Forward Is Full Speed Ahead
These SSF success stories are too many to mention, but they have a common denominator: Every one of them is helping the country’s MSMEs grow bigger and stronger and more sustainable. This is the way forward PBBM is envisioning for local businesses—and the DTI, through initiatives like the SSF, is doing its part in realizing this grand vision. And with the SSF Project still ongoing, expect more MSMEs to improve productivity, create more employment opportunities, and contribute to growing the Philippine economy.
Much still needs to be done, especially in this challenging post-pandemic economic climate. But with the leadership of President Marcos and government agencies like the DTI helping out with projects like the SSF, the country’s MSME’s can certainly expect better, brighter days ahead.
