A group of e-commerce stakeholders is asking the government to further protect micro, small and medium enterprises or MSMEs, the backbone of the economy especially during the height of the global health crisis, from economic shocks due to the fast-changing business landscape.
In a recent interview with reporters, Jere Von Basa, President of the Philippine E-Commerce Association, lamented the government’s lack of support for the multibillion-peso industry.
“We built the association because we are giving good revenue for the Philippine economy, but unfortunately we have not been given any support. Among others, we want to get access to financial institutions and loans,” Basa told reporters.
Recognizing the lack of access to financing for small enterprises, Basa pointed out that democratized access to financial tools and services will help sellers meet their financial obligations, and achieve their long-term goals.
Likewise, he argued that the industry players also need to harness their technological skills so that they can adapt to the digitized world.
“Technology changes so we also need to educate the online sellers. That’s why we also want to work with the Department of Trade and Industry as well as with Tesda,” Basa said.
“We also need to have support from the logistics since it’s one of the main backbones of the sellers’ operations. Right now, we have not been supported by the logistic firms,” he added.
For Basa, it is important to professionalize online sellers to avoid fraudulent activities such as online scams from happening. One way of doing so, according to him, is to “provide certifications to online sellers.”
According to PECA, there are approximately 8 million online sellers in the country, whose monthly value can reach as much as P2.5 billion.
Data from the state-run Philippine Statistics Authority showed that MSMEs accounted for 99.51 percent of businesses in the country in 2020.