Marcos to acting DTI chief Roque: Raise MSMEs' competitiveness, income

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has tasked newly appointed Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Acting Secretary Ma. Cristina Aldeguer-Roque to elevate the condition and competitiveness of the country’s micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) sector.

“The marching order is really to be able to uplift the income and to be able to uplift the MSMEs, and also to make use of digitalization as a way to be able to live and to level up the MSMEs,” Roque said at the Saturday News Forum.

“So, because remember, if we can increase the income of MSMEs even by 10%, this will have a big contribution to our economy,” she said.

On Friday, Malacañang announced Roque’s appointment, replacing Alfredo Pascual, whose resignation took effect on August 2.

Prior to her appointment as acting Trade chief, Roque was the DTI’s undersecretary for MSME development.

She said that MSMEs need to use digital tools to boost their competitiveness.

“This is a very important sector of the businesses in our country because it comprises 99.5% of the businesses in our country and 60% of the labor force; therefore, this cannot be ignored,” Roque said.

She added that the DTI will implement a five-point strategy for MSMEs, parts of which will focus on digitalization and artificial intelligence (AI), diversification, and the provision of funding.

Because the Philippines is composed of more than 7,000 islands, the country must go digital to disseminate information, sell products, and get the message across, Roque said.

“So, we must go digital, and we must also use AI to be able to help us or to assist us in, for example, a question-and-answer. So, instead of putting time and effort into answering questions or replying to different text messages or inquiries, we can use AI to be able to do this part while we focus on growing our business,” she said.

In terms of diversification, Roque said businesses cannot rely on a single source of income and must have a second source to ensure security and profitability.

To fund MSME operations, the government has been extending accessible and affordable loans with low interest rates.

“When we started to come in, we made loans easier for the MSME—before you needed to have collateral,” Roque said, referring to the financial assistance scheme for MSMEs.

“So, we have to understand that MSMEs don’t have collateral; they’re just, actually, some startups, some are just getting started, so definitely they don’t have collateral,” she said.

Roque served as the chairperson of SB Corp.—the Small Business Corporation, which funds initiatives for MSME development. — VBL, GMA Integrated News