Assessment of Business Environment of Women Involved in Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMES) In the Philippines: A Comparative Study with Select ASEAN Countries

Abstract

The ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (ACCMSME) in 2020 cited that small and medium enterprises are key drivers and contributors to economic growth, account for 88.8% to 99.9% of all establishments, and generate between 51.7% and 97.2% of total employment. As such, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint 2025 stated that the region would give new emphasis on assisting and promoting micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in its economic integration through a more structured and targeted MSME program. The program will be put in place to enhance MSME competitiveness, resilience, and to enable more significant benefits from ASEAN integration through various measures such as (a) promotion of productivity, use of technology, and adaption of innovation; (b) increase access to finance by developing and enhancing current framework, strengthening traditional infrastructure, enhancing policy environment and measures that foster alternative and non-traditional financing; (c) enhance market access and internationalization through the development of support schemes and integration into the global supply chains, e.g., promotion of collaboration with multinational corporations (MNCs) and large enterprises, foster the use of e-Commerce, and boost strategies to promote exports through export clinics, advisory services and rules of origin (ROO) utilization, and (d) enhance MSME policy and regulatory environment that supports intra- and inter-governmental cooperation and coordination mechanism through the involvement of MSMEs in the decision-making process to enable better representation of MSME interests, extend assistance to microenterprises in the informal sector and their integration, and streamline processes involved in obtaining permits and business registrations to enable less costly and faster business formation (ASEAN Secretariat, 2015).