KEYNOTE MESSAGE OF SECRETARY RAMON M. LOPEZ
PAK PINAS
05 February 2020, World Trade Center, Pasay City
Acknowledgments
A pleasant morning to everyone
Again, Congratulations to Propak Philippines – the organizer. This is the second Propak Philippines. Way back in 2018, given our desire to empower Micro SMEs. Because you know in the Department of Trade and Industry, we really want to level up the Micro Small Medium enterprises.
We just don’t want them to remain Micro SME forever. We want them to always level up and innovate. That’s the reason why there was ProPak in the Philippines. That’s the reason why we taught of linking and innovate. Since I came from the private sector, we’ve been innovating products. I’ve been thinking, how do we innovate MSMEs? You know these things are usually driven by packaging.
Aside from making sure that contents and the quality of the products are perfect, the packaging represents the product very well because as we always say you’re not always there every day to sell your product.
The packaging has to represent well your products in the shelves. So, our MSMEs has very little or no access to the packaging suppliers. And it’s the packaging suppliers that are actually bringing innovation to companies. Proposing all these latest trends, designs and technology for your products.
So many of the MSMEs will always be challenged. We see exhibits that does not present the products very well. And so, we were challenge and found this. Really to integrate these two sectors – the packaging and the manufacturing.
So, in 2018 we did some rounds of packaging gathering just to be able to merge all sectors and we did Pack Pinas! roadshows started in Cavite and we did it also in Visayas and Mindanao. It was a huge success and from that time on we saw the improvement in the confidence of the Micro SMEs.
People, companies from the packaging sector. We see a great improvement to it. We want them to behave. We see that happening. Then came the first Propak Philippines last year and this is the second year. We had success already. hope we continue to get better and better. Innovation is the key and this is what we’ve been trying for our MSME to really acquire. Technology is inputted, and innovation is already included.
Again, we want to create smarter and innovative Micro SMEs. SMEs is the backbone. 99.6% of companies. 70% of the employment and 30 to 35% of value added. That is where we are trying to measure it. We want them to contribute more than 37% value added to the economy.
Our ambition is to bring them higher than 40% because that is where we always connect value added to income. So, we see MSMEs contribute much more total income we can have a sense that MSMEs are gaining prosperity.
And now it’s time we need to experience all this. A fast-growing economy, second fastest in Asia. Even despite the challenges last year, we were able to grow 5.9%. Averaging for the past two quarters over 6%. The performance of the economy I would say more than 18 quarters already. It’s a very good run.
But these year challenges will not be a long term. We will be able to resolve this virus. The US-China is improving already. We hope that the global economy will start to pick up. Manufacturing start to grow again. A much faster rate. We’re hitting usually about 4 to 5% growth. Unemployment has been very good because of this continuous growth. Lowest unemployment level – 5.1% for the country. So that means more people have jobs, more income. And that would be growing the consumer-based market and hopefully attract more investment.
And because of more people having jobs, we see a poverty incidence going down already. From 23% five years ago, now we’re down to 16%. And before the end of the term of President Duterte. President Duterte has been really passionate about helping a lot of Filipinos to live in a comfortable life – to bring down poverty. Hopefully, we reach about 12 to 14% by 2022.
SME used to be 900 thousand registered firms about maybe three years ago. We’re now 1.5 million registered companies. There are lot of MSMEs. Many of them are not yet registered. But the moment we see them registering, I think we have over 5 to 6 million micro entrepreneurs but have not been registering. So that numbers should continue to increase. As they grow their business, that 6 million will slowly get to be registered. Before 2022, we want to see more more than 2 million registered firms. As many of these companies innovate and just continue to grow.
So again, this ProPak Philippines will definitely a good step in leveling up their business and making their business contribute more to the economy. With the help of our partners, maraming Salamat po with all your help definitely, that great ambition will become reality.
Maraming Salamat po sa inyong lahat.