PH and Singapore Spearheads the Launch of Global SME Financial Education Program

Digital Pilipinas, the Department of Trade and Industry – Philippine Trade Trading Center (DTI-PTTC), and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) engaged in a joint cooperation venture for the launch of the Global SME Financial Education Program which aims for the digitalization of small businesses or MSMEs along with Singapore, India, and Ghana. The Monetary Authority of Singapore in cooperation with Digital Pilipinas and DTI-PTTC hopes to make financing and business solutions more available to the MSME sector by coming up with good technology.

MAS Chief Fintech Officer Sopnendu Mohanty states that in order for MSMEs to grow further, access to finance is key– although most of the time, this proves to be a key constraint. “So what we really want to do, as part of this journey, is to find the path for SMEs so that we focus on helping them to take their ideas, be it small or medium-scale at this point of time, and find their part for them to become a bigger enterprise [and] a scalable enterprise in the future,” Mohanty also states. Part of this initiative also includes working with the private sector and the Philippine government to give small businesses the chance to go through an International SME Program, which offers foundational education and knowledge and a global financial certificate on understanding how to access technology and available financial services.

MSMEs serve a crucial role in most economies, contributing around 150% growth to countries’ national income. With education on digitalization, small-scale enterprises can allow entrepreneurs access to the online marketplace and their customers with web and mobile platforms.

DTI-PTTC and the Singaporean government are also working together to develop career pathways, functional and enabling skills, competencies, and job roles, as well as preparing curricula and modules. “We’re very happy to report that we were able to complete, I think, more than 500 skills documents covering different positions for a career pathway, skills documents which are actually defining also the job roles, the critical functions and the key tasks corresponding to the jobs identified in the career path and, of course, the skills competencies and enabling skills and competencies,” DTI-PTTC Executive Director Nelly Dillera states.

Source: BusinessMirror