THE vice chairman of the House Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Development believes that the recent enactment into law of the Magna Carta for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) would create thousands of job opportunities and new businesses in the country.

Lakas Rep. Maria Victoria Sy-Alvarado of Bulacan said the law recently signed by President Arroyo will strengthen the country’s economic growth.

“I believe thousands of Filipinos would benefit from the economic measure since this creates new jobs and businesses in urban centers and especially in the countryside,” said Sy-Alvarado, the principal author of House Bill 1754.

Sy-Alvarado said Mrs. Arroyo has prioritized the early passage of the law because “she believes the backbone of the economy is the small and medium enterprises in urban centers and the countryside.”

MSMEs comprise about 98 percent of the country’s businesses and employs about 70 percent of the work force.

She said that the Magna Carta, or Republic Act (RA) 9510, has amended Republic Act 6977, to include micro businesses.

Under the law, a micro enterprise is considered such if its total assets, excluding land, are below P3 million; small enterprise, P3.001 million to P15 million; and medium, P15.001 million to P100 million.

Sy-Alvarado said that RA 9510 extends the mandatory allocations of all lending institutions for MSMEs to at least 8 percent of their loan portfolio to micro and small enterprises.

RA 6977 requires banks to set aside only 6 percent for small enterprises and 2 percent for medium enterprises.

Sy-Alvarado said under RA 9510, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will impose sanctions and other penalties on lending institutions for non-compliance with provisions of the law and a fine of no less than P500,000. 

THE Philippines’ food import bill for 2008 may go up to close to 40 percent due to more expensive rice, wheat and dairy products, according to the latest Food Outlook released by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

DESPITE exhibiting some of the best practices in the Philippines, many of the best cities in the country still cannot be considered globally competitive, according to the International Finance Corp. (IFC).

THE local farm sector’s credit requirement was estimated at P200 billion in 2007, but banks were only able to finance P48 billion, or 24 percent, of this requirement, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) has allocated P500 million for its Organikong Pagsasaka program, a program that seeks to encourage farmers to use organic fertilizers.

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) will organize a new office to take charge of making the country’s dry lands productive, a Philippine participant in the ongoing training course on Dryland Farming Techniques for Developing Countries in Baoding, Hebei province, in China, reported.

THE government, through the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI), will spend some P60 million to conduct a National Nutrition Survey (NNS), according to the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB).

THE vice chairman of the House Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Development believes that the recent enactment into law of the Magna Carta for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) would create thousands of job opportunities and new businesses in the country.