On Friday, panelists at a forum hosted by the Philippine Competition Commission shared their insights on how micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) recover and stay afloat despite the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Covid-19.
MSMEs, said George Barcelon, President of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, need all the help they can get at this time as they are the most affected by the pandemic.
“We see the inequality that after Covid-19, the little ones are even more marginalized. And they also suffer from difficulties and constraints in the supply chain. And above all, I want to say that what they really have need is financial assistance,” he said. underline.
Government financial aid to these businesses, Barcelon said, is never enough because the intensity of the lockdown is simply too great for even the smallest businesses to survive. In order to help micro and small businesses in the long term, recovery plans must do much more.
“Looking towards 2022, we know we have a very resilient economy, but there’s still really more competition now in the market. The challenges for micro and small are really being able to scale to the platform fast enough digital,” he said. noted.
Extending more funding to MSMEs, mobility and the availability of affordable Covid-19 test kits, Barcelon said, are the three main drivers of MSME recovery.
Head of the ASEAN Secretariat’s Competition, Consumer Protection and IPR Division, Looi Tech Kheong, noted that one of the key elements of the region’s recovery strategies is accelerating the digital transformation, which should include MSMEs.
Of course, government programs can be more specialized in supporting MSMEs, he said.
“Because due to lack of finance and insufficient digital capabilities, MSMEs cannot build a digital platform. Therefore, governments can help them build it,” Looi pointed out.
