SENATOR Bam Aquino is seeking to update the country’s principal laws governing micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to provide entrepreneurs with better access to financing, markets, technology and government services.
Aquino, chairman of the Senate Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship, said the government must do more than encourage the creation of small businesses. It should also provide entrepreneurs with a clear path to survive, expand and generate more jobs.
‘It is time to revisit our laws,’ Aquino said as he opened a public hearing Thursday on proposed amendments to the Magna Carta for MSMEs and the Go Negosyo Act.
The hearing, conducted jointly with the Senate committees on economic affairs and finance, covered Senate Bills 492, 761, 931 and 2054, which seek to amend the Magna Carta for MSMEs, as well as Senate Bills 759 and 1875 on the Go Negosyo Act.
Aquino said lawmakers would examine whether the present classification of MSMEs still reflects economic conditions and whether government assistance is properly tailored to the different stages of a business’s development.
Proposed improvements include stronger Negosyo Centers and expanded assistance in financing, market access, digitalization, skills development and ease of doing business.
Aquino said government programs should help microenterprises become small businesses, small businesses develop into medium-sized firms and medium enterprises expand further.
The objective, he added, should not be measured simply by the number of registered MSMEs but by how many remain viable, create employment and gain access to larger markets.
Republic Act 9501, or the Magna Carta for MSMEs, establishes the government’s framework for promoting and assisting small businesses. The Go Negosyo Act, or RA 10644, created Negosyo Centers to provide entrepreneurs with registration assistance, business advisory services, training and access to government programs.
Aquino was the principal author and sponsor of the Go Negosyo Act during his first term in the Senate.