Left: Undersecretary Zenaida C. Maglaya at the 2017 WTO Public Forum. Right: The 2017 WTO Public Forum Opening Plenary.

The Philippines, through the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), emphasized the role of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as providers of employment and drivers of the country’s economic growth.

“The significance of micro small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) as major economic drivers is beyond question. Their sheer number is overwhelming, as they account for 98% or more of all enterprises in most countries. Recent empirical studies show that MSMEs contribute to over 55% of GDP and over 65% of total employment in high-income countries,” DTI Undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya said before World Trade Organization (WTO) members called “Friends of MSMEs” at “The Case of MSMEs in Inclusive Trade For Sustainable Development in Geneva, Switzerland.

Maglaya explained that MSMEs are underrepresented in international trade in a globalised world. But as a silverlining, there is a growing number of MSMEs who supply the export market either directly or indirectly by being involved in the production of parts and components for regional and global value chains serving large producers locally or abroad.

Maglaya added that when MSMEs do export, they contribute considerably to their country’s total GDP.

The DTI official also stressed the need to address the hurdles being faced by MSMEs in the international level. As a solution, the Philippines have pointed out several keys to help MSMEs hurdle these problems.

Maglaya pointed out the following steps being done by the Philippines such as providing access to innovation and technology, access to finance, access to skilled workers, and access to markets, particularly to export markets.

PH hosting of ASEAN

With Philippine chairmanship of ASEAN this 2017, Economic Ministers from member countries welcomed the success of the Philippine economic priority deliverables which sought to provide enabling policies to allow greater maximization of opportunities for MSMEs such as:

The endorsement of the ASEAN Inclusive Business Framework which will allow companies to engage the poor and low-income communities as partners in their supply chains.

Substantial progress towards the completion of the Focused and Strategic (FAST) Action Agenda on Investment, with a business matching activity “Linking ASEAN MSMEs with Global and ASEAN MNEs” scheduled on 19 October in Manila.

Progress made in the negotiations for the ASEAN Trade in Services Agreement (ATISA) which will foster a more facilitative and transparent trade in services and harness the contribution and global competitiveness of the ASEAN services sector and looked forward to its substantial conclusion by end of 2017, as well as the implementation of the full and comprehensive Country Visit in the Philippines in October 2017.

ASEAN agreed to submit the Action Agenda on Mainstreaming Women Economic Empowerment in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) to mainstream and give greater focus on the contribution and participation of women and youth in the region’s economic activities.
The endorsement of the ASEAN Declaration on Innovation by the ASEAN’s Science and Technology Ministers, that seeks to support an ecosystem of entrepreneurship based on technology and innovation and establish cooperation in the region to strengthen the regional competitiveness in innovation.

The launch of the maiden voyage of the ASEAN Roll-on Roll-off (RORO) Davao General Santos-Bitung route by President Rodrigo Duterte and Indonesia President Joko Widodo on 30 April in Davao City, which will enhance intra regional connectivity and bolstering socio-economic growth in the regions.

Because of the important role that MSMEs play in sustaining employment and generating GDP, governments around the world have given substantial attention to developing policies designed to support this sector.

According to Maglaya, the Philippines’ ASEAN chairmanship allowed MSMEs to be highlighted in the adopted Manila Call to Action (MCA) during the ASEAN MSME Development Summit in July.

The MCA seeks to pursue affirmative actions for a holistic strategy through the 7Ms for MSME development, namely mindset, mastery, mentoring, money, machines, markets and models.

The strategy will equip even the smallest entrepreneurs to be success and innovation driven as well as pro-active in developing their businesses and become better entrepreneurs, Maglaya said.

The Public Forum is the WTO’s largest annual outreach event, which provides a platform for participants to discuss the latest developments in world trade and to propose ways of enhancing the multilateral trading system. The 3-day event attracts over 2,000 participants from civil society, academia, business, the media, governments, parliamentarians and inter-governmental organizations.♦