Read this in the digital version of the Manila Times.
Small Business Corp. (SB Corp.), a subsidiary of the Department of Commerce and Industry (DTI), used 32,823 cases from Covid-19 Aid to restart the Enterprises (Cares) program with fully digitized loan applications. He said he approved the loan application. System.
In a statement, SB Corp. that this was pesos 5.1 billion out of pesos 8.08 billion available to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), tourism companies, cooperatives, hospitals, and returnees or displaced persons overseas. He said it was one peso. Covid-19 Filipino Workers (OFW) Affected by the Pandemic.
Cares is an interest-free and unsecured funding program designed to help MSMEs recover from the negative effects of a pandemic.
The borrower’s MSME only has to pay a one-time service fee of up to 8% for a four-year loan period.
SB Corp. fully digitized the lending process shortly after the blockade last year.
SB Corp. Evelyn Felias, Head of the Information Technology Group, said he was planning to digitize financial services as early as 2019 and was able to implement this when the blockade began.
The digital process begins with the registration of potential borrowers, the submission and approval of document requirements, through to the approval of the loan.
In a previous forum, Commerce Minister Ramon Lopez said that as of September last year, around 73% of Filipino SMEs needed capacity building initiatives or assistance in digitizing their businesses.
The DTI conducted a survey and found that in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), the Philippines are lagging behind their neighbors and adapting digital transformation to their business.
The Philippines stated that they are in the ASEAN category of enterprise digitization at “level zero” or “underground level”.
ASEAN SMEs fall into the basic categories when using email and mobile devices in their businesses. The middle category is when you start selling online while the advanced category uses data analytics in your business.
Jean Pacheco, Deputy Undersecretary of DTI’s Program Office for E-Commerce, said in light of the statistics that the e-commerce roadmap gives MSMEs the opportunity to rebuild by providing national and international services to MSMEs. He works on the innovation and implementation of programs based on 2022. Market access, digitization, logistics integration.
“23% [our] Respondents own cell phones but only use them for personal use, not for business purposes. That’s what we’re trying to do at DTI. In the process of digital transformation, we need to identify which level or category they belong to so that we can offer the right interventions for a particular MSME, ”said Pacheco.
Quoting a digital report from 2021 that shows that 80% of internet users bought something online, Pacheco said the digitization of businesses, especially the adoption of e-commerce, is expected to accelerate. ..
