The Department of Trade and Industry in Siquijor province recently presented the harmonized Provincial Small and Medium Enterprises Development Plan.

Those present were stakeholders and advocates for the growth and development of micro, small and medium enterprises in the province who also signed a Declaration of Commitment.

The signing followed the harmonization and localization of the National SMED Plan 2004-2997 Workshop held in August at the Coco Grove Beach Resort, San Juan , Siquijor.

Director for Central Visayas of DTI, Asteria Caberte, lauded the province for being the first to have presented the SMED plan, that focuses on tourism as priority sector.

Caberte said the activity is in line with government thrust of developing the small and medium industries as a means of addressing poverty and as an answer to the job creation program.

She added that the Provincial SMED Plan will significantly strengthen local resource-based businesses and products, enable home-based entrepreneurs to avail and effectively manage these resources, and promote the expansion of growth industries through linkages and access to services.

Although SMEs make up more than 99 percent of the businesses in the Philippines , and employ 70 percent of the total workforce, they contribute only about one-third of the value-added to the national economy, Caberte also said.

Carberte said the problem may be due to our regionally and globally uncompetitive SMEs; productivity and structural limitations that have prevented SMEs from maximizing their potentials; difficulty in accessing funds; and SME's limited knowledge about market opportunities and access.*RG

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