The manufacturing sector and small and medium enterprises (SME) remain significant contributors to the country’s economic growth but government regulation continues to pose challenges to SMEs.
The second session of the Philippine Economic Briefing on Tuesday centered on SMEs and manufacturing as drivers of growth.
According to Trade Undersecretary Adrian S. Cristobal Jr., in his introduction to the session, manufacturing is at the forefront of the industry sector’s growth to the country’s gross domestic product growth.
In the first semester of 2014, manufacturing accounted for 23.2- percent share of the country’s national output, the biggest contributor among the industry subsectors.
The growth of manufacturing for the full year of 2013, pegged at 10.5 percent, was sustained in the first half of 2014, which notched an 8.8-percent growth compared to the first half of 2013, Cristobal said.
SMEs growth trend is apparent as well, noted Cristobal as 99.6 percent of registered enterprises are categorized as SMEs, responsible for 62 percent of total employment.
Catherine N. Pillas