A joint agreement was recently entered into by the Industrial Guarantee and Loan Fund (IGLF) and the Foundation for Enterprise Management Innovations (FEMI) for the purpose of helping micro enterprises move up to small and medium enterprise (SME) level.
FEMI is a social enterprise seeking to empower Filipino micro enterprises outside Metro Manila that are in the growth stage through financing and capacity-building programs.
The agreement calls for FEMI, with funding support from the IGLF, to train selected micro enterprises in such aspects as finance, human resources, marketing, and operations management, with the view to developing their business competency and improving their competitiveness.
Benel Lagua, executive vice president and chief development officer of the Development Bank of the Philippines, which manages IGLF, said that the first phase of the project will cost P962,000, of which the IGLF will contribute P866,000.
The project is seen to help growing micro-enterprises raise income levels and living standards, giving these enterprises access to more and cheaper sources of funds from established financial institutions like the DBP IGLF.
According to Lagua, the growing micro businesses to be assisted by the capacity-building project will be considered prospective borrowers of DBP IGLF.