QUEZON CITY, Sep. 30 (PIA) — The business sector has been a strategic venue for women in achieving inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Undersecretary Nora Terrado said this during a strategic dialogue held recently, titled “Economies that work for Women,” which was organized by UN Women.
“Women are key players in the micro, small and medium sector that comprise ninety-nine (99%) of the country’s businesses,” Terrado said, speaking in behalf of DTI Secretary Gregory Domingo.
This number also accounts for up to seventy percent (70%) of total employment in the Philippines.
Terrado cited several studies conducted which reflect women’s participation in the business sector.
The Asian Institute of Management reported that sixty-three percent (63%) of managers and business owners surveyed were women. Of this number, fifty-two percent (52%) were micro entrepreneurs while the rest are owners of small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
DTI business registration data also show that 54 percent of enterprises registering trade names are female owned.
Furthermore, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor study shows that of 42 countries studied, the Philippines ranked second (2nd) in terms of entrepreneurially active females.
Terrado said existing laws and policies have been adopted to provide an ‘enabling environment’ in improving the competitiveness and sustainability of women’s micro enterprises, especially the passage of Republic Act No. 10644 or the Go Negosyo Act.
The Go Negosyo Act promotes job creation and inclusive growth through the development of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and provides support to women and youth.
“This was the latest in the series of laws to promote and support the role of women in development that include RA 9501 or the Magna Carta for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises enacted in 2008 and RA 7882, an act providing assistance to women engaged in micro and cottage business enterprise, enacted in 1995,” Terrado said.
The latter directs government financial institutions to allocate five percent (5%) of their funds for loans to women.
“In translation of these laws to operational programs, the DTI has forged strong partnership to the private sector and garnered the support of international donor agencies,” Terrado added.
The DTI has managed to provide women entrepreneurs with increased access to government services. Out of 91,000 beneficiaries last year, 52,000 women entrepreneurs gained access to DTI’s Enterprise Development Program.
Entrepreneurial skills and technology upgrading and training, product design, market managing, participation in trade fairs, international expositions, and business missions, were among the services that women beneficiaries availed themselves of.
Moreover, women entrepreneurs increased their access to the financing program of the Small Business Corporation, a government financial institution. Women comprised of forty-three percent (43%) of those who availed of small business loans in 2014 (equivalent to 274 million), considered a dramatic increase from the seventeen percent (17%) which is equivalent to only 37 million, in 2009.
These accomplishments can be attributed to the Aquino administration’s principle development goals of lasting, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth.
The landmark law, Republic Act No. 7192 or “The Women in Development and Nation-Building Act,” was passed during her term, and served as basis for the formulation of the Philippine Development Plan for Women and the reconstitution of the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) to oversee its implementation.
The strategic dialogue “Economies that Work for Women” was held in conjunction with the visit of United Nations Undersecretary General and UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and the PCW.
Mlambo-Ngcuka reported that the Philippines ranked 9th in the top 10 most gender-equal countries in the 2014 Global Gender Gap Report of the World Economic Forum.
The global gender gap index seeks to measure the relative disparities between women and men across four areas—health, education, economy, and politics.
She also said that the Philippines, to date, is the only country in the East Asia and Pacific region that has ratified the International Labor Organization Domestic Workers Convention adopted in 2011, which sets labor standards for domestic workers.
Mlambo-Ingcuka said in some developing regions, upwards of seventy-five percent (75%) of women’s employment is informal, unprotected by labor laws or social protection. Over one-third is in informal agricultural self-employment. (VDCG/PRC)
