414,642 jobs created for micro SMEs – Palace

Over P35 billion in loans have been extended to various micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in 2007, generating nearly half a million new jobs, Malacañang said yesterday.

Presidential Management Staff chief Secretary Cerge Remonde, in his report to President Arroyo, said for the first three quarters of 2007 alone, a total of P35.01 billion in loans were released to 670,787 active MSME clients, generating an estimated 414,642 new jobs.

“For much of the year, we were focused on two priority concerns: MSME program as a strategy for growing a robust, entrepreneurial middle class; and monitoring the efficient implementation of the infrastructure program anchored on the five super regions,” Remonde said.

“Both are key components of the President’s social payback program and are strategic to employment generation and job creation,” he said.

About P14.62 billion went to micro-finance institutions (MFIs) benefiting 661,731 micro-finance clients and generating 338,192 new jobs, for a 77 percent accomplishment of the annual target of 437,744 new jobs for 2007, he said.

Mrs. Arroyo appointed Remonde as Cabinet Oversight Official for MSME Development last year.

For the SMEs, P20.39 billion in loans were released to 9,056 SME accounts, creating 76,450 new jobs, he said.

He said as of the last report from MSME agencies – from 2001 to October 2007 – a total of P225.44 billion was released to 3.56 million active microfinance clients and SME accounts, generating 2,091,250 new jobs or almost 69.7 percent of the targeted three million new jobs until 2010.

Of that amount, some P84.41 billion was released to 3.22 million microfinance clients, generating 1.36 million new jobs, far exceeding the target of 1.17 million new jobs for that period, he said.

For the same period, a total of P114.26 billion was released to 56,458 SME accounts supporting some 1.76 million jobs, 30 percent or about 530,559 of which are assumed as new jobs, Remonde said.

He said the entire MSME sector comprised an estimated 99.6 percent of all business establishments in the country, providing 32 percent value added to the Philippine economy, and employing 70 percent of the total employed workforce. Out of this total, 63,707 are considered SMEs. -– Paolo Romero, Philippine Star