OFWs urged to start their own businesses

MANILA, Philippines - The government is encouraging returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to start their own businesses in the country through programs helping their reintegration, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said the government  is beefing  up efforts to reintegrate returning OFWs who could give a significant contribution to the country’s economic development by harnessing their resources and expertise.

Balisacan, who is also NEDA director general, explained that the resources brought by OFWs will help generate employment and contribute to the growth of  micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.

The government, through the Commission on Filipinos Overseas and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), has put up the BALinkBayan (Business Advisory Link para sa Bayan) website to help OFWs set up businesses and investments in the country.

The website provides a link to DTI’s One-Town-One-Product (OTOP) program, as well as other community-level convergence programs of the Departments of Agriculture, Agrarian Reform, and Environment and Natural Resources.

The government said that other enterprise programs under the MSME Development Plan: 2011-2016 also aim to encourage local entrepreneurs and returning OFWs to invest their resources in the Philippines.

As of June 2012, a total of 19,403 participants were trained in weaving, bamboo processing, making handmade papers, branding, management and values formation to increase their productivity and access to credit and markets. 

In 2011, a total of 2,034 OFWs were also provided training by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and the Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC) to encourage them to become entrepreneurs.

ASENSO (Access of Small Enterprises to Sound Lending Opportunities), formerly known as SULONG, released a total of P254 billion worth of financial assistance, equivalent to 251,920 accounts and translating into 3,649,428 jobs since its inception in 2004 until June 2012, NEDA said.

Similarly, the Rural Micro Enterprise Promotion Program  continues to provide financial (microfinance) as well as technical assistance to promote the development of microenterprises.

As of June 2012, a total of 44,061 microenterprises have been provided microfinancing (126 percent of target) while 22,073 (or 147 percent of target) were provided business development services, including capacity building, product development and market linkages.