Ang Kasangga Partylist Rep. Teodorico T. Haresco on Friday called on the national government to strengthen and widen support for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), particularly in the countryside.

“MSMEs are the backbone of our economy and play a critical role in alleviating poverty, especially in the countryside. If we are to get out of poverty, our government must have to give priority to their growth and development by extending assistance and expanding their access to much needed financial resources,” Haresco said during the regular “Friday Balitaan sa Hotel Rembrandt” in Quezon City.

The partylist solon said that of the 810,000 registered business establishments in the country, 99.6 percent – or about 808,000 – are classified as MSMEs, employing about 70 percent of the workforce.

Of the 96.6 percent, 92 percent are considered micro-enterprises, employing 38 percent of the workforce, mostly in the National Capital Region, Calabarzon, Central Luzon and Ilocos region. Only 7.5 percent are small enterprises and 0.35 percent are classified as medium enterprises.

But while MSMEs are the engine of the country’s economic growth, their total contribution to the national productivity is limited to 30 percent only – comparatively lower than our Asian counterparts like South Korea, which accounts 60 percent of national productivity from MSMEs, Haresco said.

This is mainly due to inefficiencies, low productivity and lack of capital, he said.

“For MSMEs to flourish, especially in the countryside, we have to pour our investments to the development of our transport and communications infrastructures. We have to give MSMEs more access to productive resources like capital and business development services to harness their full potentials,” Haresco said.

To this end, the partylist lawmaker had filed House Resolution No. 41 in Congress that will empower the Congressional Oversight Committee on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development (COC-MSMED) to monitor, oversee and review the strict compliance of all lending institutions to the mandatory allocation of credit resources to MSMEs.

“By monitoring the strict compliance of lending institutions in their mandatory credit allocation to MSMEs, we are helping to empower Filipino entrepreneurs and make them become globally competitive under a progressive and competitive socio-economic environment,” Haresco said.