Manila, Philippines – Local telecommunications company PLDT and its wireless unit Smart Communications recently partnered with the Philippines Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture (PPSA) to roll out a digital upskilling learning session for Filipino cooperatives (coops), MSMEs, and local entrepreneurs.
Under their digital upskilling-to-e-commerce program dubbed ‘eBiznovation’, PLDT, Smart, and PPSA provide local entrepreneurs, including those in the agriculture and fishery sector, with the right digital tools to help them grow their businesses online.
During the session, participating coops and MSMEs learned about effective strategies for boosting online presence, creating engaging content, and capturing an online market and turning them into loyal customers using basic social media platforms.
Apart from digital upskilling, PLDT and Smart also offer fundamental cybersecurity learning sessions for coops and MSMEs to ensure a safe and secure online business environment for all.
As part of these efforts, the group also recently supported the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and conducted a learning session among Laguna-based MSMEs on how to protect themselves and their businesses against fraud both offline and online.
Talking about these initiatives, Stephanie Orlino, AVP and head of stakeholder management team at PLDT and Smart, said, “In this rapidly evolving digital world, learning the fundamentals of digital marketing unlocks plenty of livelihood opportunities. Through eBiznovation, we aim to assist small-and medium-scale local enterprises in navigating the digital space efficiently and safely, and eventually help them boost their income.”
Meanwhile, Ma. Angela Primitiva Bautista, country director of PPSA, commented, “PPSA collaborates with a network of different stakeholders across the agricultural value chain to attain inclusive and sustainable agriculture in the Philippines. Through this particular initiative with PLDT and Smart, we aim to accelerate the adoption of digital innovations and ICT solutions and interventions across the agri-fisheries sector.”
Tag: MSMEs
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) and SME Corporation Malaysia (SME Corp) have partnered up, signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to create about 200 capital market ready micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) by 2026.
The three-year MoU paves the way for mutual cooperation in building a strong pipeline of capital market-ready MSMEs, which also includes enhancing their sustainability and corporate governance awareness and readiness.
Under the MoU, both the SC and SME Corp. Malaysia also agreed to embark on several joint developmental initiatives to strengthen market insights and data analytics on MSME access to the capital market, as well as expanding the capital market funding pool for MSMEs.
The MoU also looks to strengthen the familiarity of 300 MSMEs with sustainability disclosures and corporate governance best practices.
Commenting on the MoU, SC chairman Datuk Seri Dr. Awang Adek Hussin said, “This MoU aligns with our vision to foster a vibrant and resilient capital market that serves not only large corporations, but also the smaller enterprises. MSMEs are an integral part of the economy, contributing about 38% of Malaysia’s GDP and 48 per cent of total employment in 2022.”
Meanwhile, Rizal Nainy, chief executive officer of SME Corp. Malaysia, mentioned, “Both SME Corp. Malaysia and the SC are committed to ensure that the capital market is competitive and vibrant, while remaining accessible to MSMEs in Malaysia”.
“Hence, this collaboration paves the way towards capital market vibrancy and competitiveness. As the Central Coordinating Agency for MSME development, SME Corp. Malaysia is also committed to playing a key role in spearheading the sustainability agenda for MSMEs,” he added.
Singapore – GrabAds, the advertising arm of regional superapp Grab, has launched ‘Marketing Manager’ a web-based marketing platform which aims to aid micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Southeast Asia create marketing campaigns that drive sales.
With the newly launched ‘Marketing Manager’, merchants can access new features on any browser to get a full view of their campaigns, tailor how their budgets will get used, and get real-time detailed reports. This also includes the capability for merchants with multiple outlets to now concurrently run campaigns for all their stores and also schedule when their ads will run.
In addition to merchants being able to state how much budget should be allocated to each campaign and over what duration, now they can also set a cap on the number of times their ads can be shown to a user in a day.
Moreover, merchants can precisely configure which audience segments are targeted with their ads, whether by demographic, food choices, visits to places of interest, types of Grab services used such as GrabFood or Grab Unlimited subscribers. With the platform, merchants can leverage additional formats, such as video, to showcase their ads.
Lastly, merchants can leverage the reporting dashboard to gather insights on real-time sales and performance, allowing them to accurately track returns on investment and find ways to improve and optimise campaigns.
Margaret Y.C. Chang, regional head of SMB at GrabAds, said, “Guided by Grab’s mission to drive Southeast Asia forward by creating economic empowerment for everyone, we hope to provide our MSME merchants with effective digital tools on GrabAds so that they can easily reach millions of customers who eat, shop and commute using the Grab app. We have added Marketing Manager to our existing suite of digital tools to empower merchants with new ways to promote their products and grow their business with Grab’.”
Manila, Philippines – Consumer finance app, BillEase, and in-app commerce platform ChatGenie have announced their partnership targeted at empowering micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSME) through integrating its buy now, pay later (BNPL) solution in the platform.
The partnership is expected to bring a new level of convenience to both consumers and merchants, with retailers now being able to offer shoppers three cardless instalment options at checkout with interest rates between 0% and 3.49%.
According to the release, the BNPL service will enable underserved consumers to enjoy a more flexible payment option, while merchants can increase their sales by offering a wider range of payment methods.
“We are excited to partner with BillEase to provide our merchants with a broader payment solution that will help them grow their businesses. ChatGenie is committed to providing our retailers with opportunities by maximizing the world’s biggest apps; this collaboration is a testament to that commitment,” said Ragde Falcis, chief executive officer of ChatGenie.
Georg Steiger, CEO and co-founder of BillEase, added, “This partnership is a significant step towards achieving our mission to provide financial services that are accessible and convenient for both retailers and consumers. By offering our BNPL service through ChatGenie’s innovative platform, we are providing a frictionless payment option that aligns with this shift toward digital transactions.”
Previously, BillEase has also partnered with tech company OpenFabric to launch an integration stack for large enterprise merchants and payment gateways looking for same-day integration of BNPL service.
Surakarta, Indonesia – Superapp Grab in Indonesia and the Indonesian Market Management Association (Asparindo) have confirmed a strategic partnership, in an aim to digitise traditional markets through the Pasar programme, an extension of GrabMart that brings local markets’ freshest produce, poultry, meat, and seafood to households.
Aside from Surakarta, the digitalisation program will also continue to traditional markets in and other cities such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Bogor, Bali, Palembang and Medan, targeting around 4,600 traditional market MSME players by the end of 2022.
The collaboration includes a number of initiatives like the ‘Digital Market Activation’, where MSME partners under Asparindo have the opportunity to join the Grab digital ecosystem as Grab merchants and take advantage of digital payment methods using OVO. It also includes ‘Training for MSMEs’, where Grab will be providing digital training programmes, webinars, and education for MSME players in order to improve digital market literacy and help empower digital businesses to increase the value of market competitiveness.
Additionally, another initiative is ‘Event participation’, where Grab and Asparindo will be presenting various kinds of events held both offline and online.
Gibran Rakabuming Raka, mayor of Surakarta, said, “This collaboration is certainly in line with the mission that is being carried out by the Surakarta City Government in realizing the smart city program. I hope this program can provide education to business people that digitalization in every market is currently very necessary in order to encourage regional economic growth and create skilled and highly competitive resources.”
Meanwhile, Neneng Goenadi, country managing director of Grab Indonesia, conveyed the platform’s commitment to supporting the digitisation of market traders and MSME players in Indonesia.
“We believe in the potential and superior competitiveness of Indonesian MSMEs. Therefore, we are excited to present the GrabMart Pasar program to facilitate market traders and MSMEs in adopting technology and entering the digital economy ecosystem. We hope that Grab’s support can help Indonesian MSMEs contribute to sustainable regional and national economic growth,” said Goenadi.
Joko Setiyanto, chairman of the Indonesian Market Management Association (Asparindo), shared that the current pandemic has also encouraged a change in trends for people to shop and do business digitally, and the traditional market is one of the places of business for SMEs that must be maintained and its existence regulated.
“Therefore, digital adoption is needed for traditional markets in order to adapt and improve services to meet the needs of the community. Through this collaboration with Grab Indonesia, it is hoped that it will accelerate the pace of digitalisation of traditional markets so that they can continue to exist and develop into modern traditional markets that are solid and globally competitive,” said Setiyanto.
Singapore – B2B marketplace Proxtera together with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has launched an open financial education and action programme for MSMEs in Asia and Africa, which will be called, the ‘SME Financial Empowerment (SFE)’ programme.
The programme is a digital portal operated by Proxtera that aims to help MSMEs build foundational digital financial literacy skills, and gain a good understanding of cross-border financial services relevant to MSMEs, to help them thrive in the post-pandemic digital economy. It was rolled out last 14 June 2022 with market partners in Asia and Africa, starting with Ghana, India, the Philippines, and Singapore, and will benefit more than 400,000 MSMEs across both regions.
In addition, the SFE programme will be covering three key areas as a focus for 2022, namely Essential Financial Digital Skillset, MSME Financial Services, and Digital Economy Access & Growth. It will also be providing two certification courses that were developed in collaboration with UNDP, IFC, MAS, Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) and the Global FinTech Institute (GFI), namely Foundational Financial Literacy and Global Financial Literacy.
Saurav Bhattacharyya, Proxtera’s CEO, commented that they are proud to be the exclusive lead partner of the programme, and running the programme office that ideates, manages, and implements the rollout.
“The SFE programme stays true to our mission of supporting MSMEs, by upskilling them to understand financial services and how best to tap into the digital marketplace effectively and globally. SFE provides that first step for individuals to embark on a journey of digital transformation, where their understanding and digital competencies mature over time, and they become part of an integrated ecosystem that allows them to truly trade business-sans-borders,” said Bhattacharyya.
Manila, Philippines — The International Council for Small Business Philippines (ICSB PH) and Union Bank of the Philippines have joined hands to launch a three-day conference and expo for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) for free this coming June 27 to 30. The event is entitled ‘MSME Fiesta Sulong Negosyante’ and will be held at Resorts World Manila in Pasay City.
The expo is part of ICSB and UnionBank’s celebrations for the United Nations’ International MSME Day, which is observed annually every June 27th to raise awareness of the contributions of MSMEs to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
During the three-day event, a number of activities will be held with the goal of helping MSMEs in every aspect of their business. There will be mentoring and coaching to be led by industry experts; opportunities to secure funding from some of the leading financing companies in the country; and learning sessions focused on a wide selection of topics namely access to loans, eCommerce platforms, payment gateways, and digital creatives, among other.
Eric Caeg, founder of ICSB, said, “What’s in it for the MSMEs? We could say we can do these things online, but then again, it’s better for them to see new partners face-to-face and learn new ideas from experts.”
Simultaneously, Jaypee Soliman, UnionBank’s SME and Micropreneurs segment head, shared, “Left and right, so many webinars for MSMEs are happening simultaneously every weekend. I think it’s time that we go beyond that.”
Soliman adds, “What we want to do is to move forward, which is why the name of the event is Sulong! Negosyante. Now, we won’t just be doing talks, but this time we’ll be doubling down on enabling our MSMEs through the activities that we’ve prepared for everyone.”
The event holds tons of surprises for those keen to attend. To make travel to the event site easier, Grab Philippines will be offering a voucher for its users, where they can enjoy a discount on their fare. Those travelling to the event via their own vehicles will also get the chance to take home gas vouchers.
To learn more about the MSME Fiesta Sulong Negosyante, interested individuals can visit Unionbank’s dedicated website registration page for the event.
Manila, Philippines — To celebrate the Philippines’ Independence Day, SM Supermalls will be holding major events to commemorate this national holiday and encourage Pinoys to further embrace Filipino culture. Among these are the championing of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) that represent the nation’s cultural diversity and heritage, featuring of delicious Filipino cuisine, and the customary raising of the Flag ceremony to honour the Philippine Independence Day on the morning of June 12, 2022.
As a champion of local MSMEs, SM Supermalls will spoil you with Filipino cuisine options and other local products from June 1-12. Savour the diverse and rich Filipino food offerings and have a taste of different Pinoy dishes and treats from every region of the country.
Support local businesses, and buy fresh local produce and other speciality items from SM’s affiliates and tenants through the Buy Pinoy pop-up stores. Shop the best locally-made clothes, souvenirs, décor, and food brought to you by Filipino businesses from June 1 to June 12, 2022.
Steven T. Tan, president of SM Supermalls, said, “SM Supermalls has always celebrated Pinoy pride through various events where we get to appreciate our culture and express our gratitude to the heroes of past and present.”
Tan adds, “The Philippine Independence Day should never be taken for granted because holding our national pride and heritage in high regard is what makes us true-blooded Filipinos through and through. We encourage everyone to join us as we celebrate freedom at SM Supermalls.”
Manila, Philippines – Amidst a strong recovery from COVID-19 in 2021, small businesses in the Philippines are bullish about their growth for this year, new data from CPA Australia shows.
According to the data, 65% of respondents reported growing and 41% increased employee numbers. This can be attributed to the fact that there has been evident strong customer satisfaction and business strategy. Over the past three years, respondents nominated customer loyalty and improved customer satisfaction as the top factors positively influencing their businesses.
Leslie Leow, general manager for emerging markets at CPA Australia said, “To stand out from competitors and win more customers, it’s pivotal for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to adopt a customer-oriented strategy. This will assist them to provide the products or services customers’ demand.”
He added, “Filipino small business owners are typically young, vibrant and skilful at using digital technologies in their business and to engage with customers and potential customers.”
The data also noted that 91% expect to grow, far outstripping the survey average of 62%. Around 45% stated they will introduce a new product, service or process to the market in 2022, while 62% expect to hire more employees. Both results are the second highest among all surveyed markets. In addition, 62% of respondents expect revenue from overseas markets to grow, outperforming the region.
“The Philippines are investing resources in revitalising industries hard-hit by COVID-19, such as tourism and hospitality. With border restrictions set to relax this year, foreign tourists and opportunities from overseas markets should spur MSMEs’ confidence and expansion prospects,” Leow added.
Aside from the pandemic, increasing costs remains the biggest barrier to Filipino small businesses. Materials costs (42%) and utility costs (39%) were the costs that caused the most detriment.
In terms of financing, 66% of respondents sought external funds last year while 80% expect that they will require additional funds this year. Covering increasing expenses was one of the major reasons for seeking finance. Financing conditions improved significantly for Filipino businesses in 2021. About 38% of respondents found access to finance ‘easy’ or ‘very easy’, up from 13% in 2020. However, this result is still below the survey average of 46%.
Leow further explained, “Easier access to finance is most likely due to the strong shift by local businesses to family or friends as their main source of finance, which was up from 21% in 2020 to 45% in 2021. The survey shows that family and friends are typically the easiest source for finance to access. While the Department of Trade and Industry Philippines released a total of PHP5.9b this year to MSMEs, funding roadblocks are still hindering local MSME’s growth.”
Singapore – Indonesia and Singapore have recently reaffirmed their commitment to discuss collaborations on data governance, digital talent and the digital transformation of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in their respective countries.
Held during the 8th Information and Communications Joint Committee (ICJC) Meeting on Digital Cooperation last April 7. Present during the meeting were Joseph Leong, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) of Singapore; and Mira Tayyiba, secretary general of the Ministry of Communications and Informatics (KOMINFO) of Indonesia.
During the joint meeting, they discussed digital transformation efforts in their respective countries, and explored areas where bilateral digital cooperation could advance mutual interests, including initiatives to support the digitalisation of businesses and start-ups.
Leong said, “The ICJC Meeting is an important platform for the bilateral cooperation between Singapore and Indonesia. Digital transformation is increasingly important in helping our people and businesses seize new opportunities and markets. The ICJC has given us the opportunity to foster a closer working relationship in bilateral digital cooperation, which will benefit our people and businesses, and accelerate our post-pandemic recovery.”
Meanwhile, Tayyiba commented, “I hope we can share the same vision in ICJC while continuing initiatives and cooperation between our neighbouring countries. It is important to nurture our digital future by focusing our effort on human centric approach by providing equal and accessible connectivity, ensuring the security and protection of data, equipping the society with the necessary skills in this era of digital transformation, and creating a fair playing field for all actors within the digital ecosystem.”
She added, “The ICJC meeting can be utilised not only as a means to share information and best practices, but also to initiate new cooperation and other initiatives that can benefit both countries.”