Representatives of rural banks and thrift banks in the Visayas attended the 10-day SME Credit Appraisal and Monitoring Training in Bacolod City launched by the Small and Medium Enterprise Development for Sustainable Employment Program.  

The fee-based training, which ends today, provides the banks with tools on innovative cash flow-based approach to SM lending to increase their business volume with the SME sector. 

It is being implemented by the University of the Philippines-Institute for Small Scale Industries in cooperation with the Financial Services Component of the GTZ Private Sector Promotion Program, SMEDSEP.

The lending approach is seen to contribute to improved access to SMEs to credit, SMEDSEP said.

National experts on banking and entrepreneurship composed the training team. An international expert on SME finance also supported the national team to introduce international best practices on SME lending.

The Private Sector Promotion Program, SMEDSEP, is a development cooperation project between the Republic of the Philippines and the Federal Republic of Germany. It aims to improve the Business and Investment Climate of Small and Medium Enterprise in the Philippines, especially in the Visayas, Anja Gomm, program manager of GTZ-SMEDSEP, said.

She said the project contributes to the efforts of the Philippine government to improve the framework conditions for private sector development in the country. It is implemented in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry at national, regional and provincial levels and the German Technical Cooperation on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The financial services component of SMEDSEP aims to support financial institutions in providing more finance to SMEs on a sustainable basis, she said.*NLG

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