Up to 20,000 MSMEs to benefit from Capitol’s seed capital assistance

The Cebu provincial government is planning to allocate a seed capital grant of P5,000 to 10,000 to MSMEs. | CDN File Photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Capitol’s seed capital assistance to existing and aspiring micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) may already start to roll out by the end of August as the provincial government and partner agencies say they are now on the final stages of the planning and drafting of guidelines.

The assistance for the MSMEs will be sourced from the P5 million budget for each of the offices of the 17 board members and P15 million for the Vice Governor’s Office that was initially announced by Governor Gwendolyn Garcia during her founding anniversary message last August 6.

READ: Capitol readies P336M assistance to LGUs, MSMEs

Board Member Glenn Anthony Soco, who chairs the Provincial Board Committee on Commerce, Trade, and Industry, said they are looking at setting the seed capital grant of P5,000 to 10,000.

The board members will be the ones to conduct the initial screening and processing of the MSME applicants from the districts that they represent in the Provincial Board while the Vice Governor’s Office (VGO) and ex-officio members can accommodate MSME applicants from the entire province.

With a total budget of P100 million, the program can accommodate up to 20,000 MSMEs in the province.

“It will really go to the affected to the micro-enterprises [and] also, the displaced and affected workers who would want to go into business. It will help the existing entrepreneurs and those who would want to go into business,” Soco told CDN Digital on Sunday, August 16.

Soco, who is a businessman himself, said supporting the small entrepreneurs would create a ripple effect in the local economy considering the economic activities that could stir from the small businesses.

“It is really well-timed karon nga people are now considering to shift to other means of generating income. They can look at entrepreneurship as a means of surviving this crisis,” Soco said.

“Entrepreneurship creates a lot of value to our economy. The small businesses also employ people, and spend on their suppliers, it creates local economic activities,” he added.

Meanwhile, the official said the province is also coordinating with other government agencies and financial institutions that may also offer assistance or programs to MSMEs that have higher or more technical needs than what the province can offer.

Soco said that after the province would have already finalized its guidelines for the application for the assistance for MSMEs, endorsing and facilitating the MSMEs who may need to avail of higher assistance programs from other agencies and institutions would be a step-up process.

“Apart from the financial support that they will get from the provincial government, those who will need a higher amount, we can refer them to DTI (Department of Trade and Industry), and to those who will need a still higher amount, there’s a lot of facilities available and we would really come out as a facilitator also to really help the small businesses,” Soco explained. / dcb