Last May 19, Go Negosyo met with executives from various digital platforms in the Philippines to discuss how digital technology may be utilized to benefit the nation’s micro, small, and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) as well as nano-preneurs.
Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion with digital platform leaders (IMAGE CREDIT: https://gonegosyo.ph)
Grab, Angkas, Shopee, Lalamove, Maya, Maya Bank, GCash, Packworks, LaunchGarage, Peddlr, Gentree Fund, Sarisuki, Kickstart Ventures, and Ideaspace were just some of the digital platforms that attended the event.
Mayani, Agrabah Ventures, and Farm Konek — three digital technology platforms with an emphasis on agriculture — were also present during the meeting.
In a discussion with Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion together with senior advisers Dr. William Dar and Josephine Romero, the group examined scenarios and possible solutions to address the difficulties now facing MSMEs as they integrate digital platforms into their services, particularly with regard to financing and payment transactions.
During the event, Concepcion stressed how digital technology could play a major role in boosting productivity and achieving competitiveness for the country’s MSME sector. “Digital technology will play a key role in making the economy more inclusive, particularly in the nation’s agricultural sector,” he said.
The GoNegosyo founder also mentioned the gains derived from the inclusive economic growth programs of Kapatid Angat Lahat for Agriculture Programs (KALAP), a public-private sector partnership initiative that uses Go Negosyo’s framework of providing micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) access to money, markets, and mentoring.
It also aims to help the country’s MSMEs in the agriculture sector by integrating them into the value chain of large operations and developing agri-preneurs to be globally competitive.
“Helping MSMEs, a bulk of whom can be found in the agriculture sector, will help generate more jobs for Filipinos, especially those in the countryside,” Concepcion explained.
He added that MSMEs are vital in the creation of new ideas, jobs, and wealth in the country while digital platforms are crucial in helping spur their growth and realizing their potential.
Representatives from the digital platforms present, on the other hand, acknowledged that MSMEs in the country are a rapidly expanding market and voiced out their desire to assist them.
They agreed that the Philippine government must do more to make it easier for small enterprises to conduct business, as well as improve their access to infrastructure and communication, particularly in the country’s remote regions.
MSMEs currently provide 63% of employment to the Philippine workforce and comprise 99.5% of all commercial establishments in the country. In the past years, MSMEs were also responsible for 40 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).