Marcos asks ASEAN to help nano trade of vendors, vulcanizers, etc.

LABUAN BAJO - President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has asked member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the region’s leaders in commerce to support the nano businesses of dispatch riders, repairers, market men and women, and others in a similar trade.

At his intervention at the ASEAN Leaders’ Interface with Representatives of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC), Marcos said nano businesses, an informal and still unrecognized business category, have been impacting people's lives in the region but are ignored.

“These nano businesses are also described as ‘solopreneurs’ and they are home-based businesses, among whom are make-up artists, vulcanizers, independent dispatch riders, vendors, repairers, and market women and men in the various open markets,” Marcos said.

“They play a very important but often unrecognized role all across our countries. But by classification, they often do not meet the MSME (micro, small and medium enterprise) micro-business criteria, which is the category for the smallest businesses. They are largely unaccounted for, but these informal business settings constitute a large portion of all our economies,” he added.

The President appealed to other member states not to forget the Nano businesses, as they are just as viable as the "micro, small, or midsize businesses."

Marcos pointed out that by supporting the informal business enterprise, they will contribute to the region’s overall economic growth and narrow the development gap.

For his part, ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) Chair Mohammad Arsjad Rasjid Prabu Mangkuningrat supported Marcos’ call to recognize and support nano businesses. He is the Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN).

Meanwhile, Marcos said the regional body should also prioritize ensuring food self-sufficiency and security in the region to attain overall human security.

He said ASEAN member states could ensure food security by adopting new technologies as well as by using smart agriculture and food systems.

“As such, the Philippines supports ABAC’s proposal on strengthening food security, promoting sustainable production, enhancing information systems, and identifying nutrition-enhancing agriculture mechanisms for sustainable ASEAN food systems,” Marcos said.

“I would like to reiterate the commitment of the Philippine Government to work with the private sector to advance ASEAN’s goals and objectives,” he added.

Marcos further echoed the ASEAN-BAC’s call for the ASEAN to take a leading role in shaping the regional and global economy by staying “united, together, and stronger” in determining its economic agenda now and in the future. —NB, GMA Integrated News