SMEs

The “Investment Conference Digital Era”, a digitalization roadshow aimed at boosting cooperatives and startups across the country, was formally launched last July 17 at the historic Barasoain Church in Malolos, Bulacan.

While entering new markets is top of mind among Philippine SMEs, hiring local talent remains to be a priority.

SMEs are increasingly storing more valuable customer and financial data, creating a new playing field for cybercriminals to attack them almost as frequently as larger companies.

Equipping MSMEs with the same technology capabilities as large hotel chains and enabling them to compete more effectively is the shared goal of Converge, in partnership with another Filipino-owned technology firm, Comise Solutions Inc.

Enstack, a Filipino-developed app that enables SMEs to sell online and offline, said that as the demand for hybrid online-offline shopping experiences increases, small businesses need to create a hybrid retail setup.

The Pilipinas Shell’s LiveWIRE Virtual Homeroom series featured entrepreneurs who managed to grow their businesses through smart networking.

Targeting SMEs, Investree Philippines has just expanded beyond Luzon into Central and Western Visayas, as well as into Davao in Mindanao.

“As our country continues to recover from the pandemic, e-Commerce remains to be the catalyst towards economic recovery and growth,” DTI director Christopher Lawrence Arnuco said.

More than half (56%) of Filipino MSMEs had to rely on friends and family for loans, and 45% used personal funds to launch their business.

74 percent of Pinoy SME respondents named exposure of customer data and resulting loss of customer trust as their biggest fear when it comes to website security.