ADFIAP’s Asia-Pacific Institute of Development Finance (IDF) organized a study tour program (STP) on “DFIs, Micro Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and Rural Industrialization in the Philippines” from July 25-29, 2016 in Manila, Philippines, with ten (10) participants from Bhutan, India, Malaysia, Oman, and the Philippines.
The STP serves as an essential platform in understanding the role of various players in MSME finance and development through lectures and presentations, visits to various regulatory agencies, multilateral organizations, and conduits of MSME funds to gain firsthand knowledge on the processes of handling an MSME project. The program also serves as a venue to exchange views, ideas, and best practices on MSME initiatives among participating institutions.
The participants of this 5-day event visited and were briefed by the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Bureau of Small & Medium Enterprise Development on the MSME sector in the Philippines, and the National Government’s policies and current thrusts on non-financial assistance program to MSMEs, including other initiatives on “greening” the sector.
Other institutions visited during the program were Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines) for a briefing on the Bank’s regulatory role on DFIs and MSME promotion and development; the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) for a session on MSME initiatives and rural industrialization programs in support of the MSME sector of the country; the Small Business Guarantee Corporation (SBGC) for its sharing on microfinance programs, risk-based lending and guarantee schemes; Esquire Financing, Inc. (EFI) providing an overview on its role in the development of the MSME sector of the country, followed by a MSME project site visit; and the CARD SME Bank for a lecture on its thrusts, programs and initiatives in support of the MSME sector, and introduction to “center meeting” to appreciate the flow of MSME funds as well as a project site visit to CARD SME Bank’s MSME supported projects.
The resource speakers who shared their expertise during the program were Ms. Alice Opena, DTI, Bureau of Small & Medium Enterprise Department; Ms. Concepcion A. Garcia, Acting Deputy Director, Small and Medium Enterprise Finance Specialist Group, Central Bank of the Philippines ; Mr. Benel Lagua, Executive Vice President, Chief Development Officer of Development Sector, DBP; Mr. Charles Belgica, Group Head, Financial Institute Development Group; Mr. Rajan Uttamchandani, Chairman/CEO, EFI.
To learn more about ADFIAP’s IDF Study Tour Programs (STP), please email the Secretariat at [email protected].