Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Ambassador Jesus P. Tambunting, chairman and CEO of Planters Development Bank-the Philippines’ largest private SME development bank, proposed a new development approach called “SME enablement” for industrializing economies during the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) SME Summit held in Melbourne. The SME Summit, a pre-event to the APEC Economic Leaders meeting, was attended by senior business leaders and policy makers from across the Asia-Pacific region.
Ambassador Tambunting said the growth of globally competitive Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) cannot be sustained unless development bankers are prepared to support customers by integrating finance with SME-oriented technology applications, support infrastructure and capacity-building.
“We remain committed to support the sector and envision Plantersbank to become a globally competitive model SME bank not only in the Philippines but in the world,” according to Ambassador Tambunting. “The greatest challenge is to stay aligned with the evolving needs of SMEs and keep our strong double bottom line orientation in the face of growing competition.”
Development bankers have to become enablers of SMEs in order to unleash the potential of this sector and increase SMEs share in the economic development of the country, he added.
Plantersbank has already put this “SME enablement” to practice by opening the first SME industrial park in the Philippines and pursuing a nationwide advocacy program to promote SME-focused technology applications in business.