6th Philippine Business and Entrepreneurs Expo (PBEX), a Platform for SME Readiness
Wednesday, July 01, 2015
A 2013 survey by the Philippine Institute for Development
Studies (PIDS) showed that Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) weak economic
performance is due to “poor access to
finance, technology, and skills, as well as information gaps and difficulties
in product quality and marketing. Although there are government institutions or
agencies responsible for the development and technology support of SMEs, the
growth of the sector has not been vigorous enough to propel the economy.”
These challenges are still the same challenges the
Philippine SME are facing, even now that the ASEAN Economic Integration is on
our country.
The 6th
Philippine Business and Entrepreneurs Expo (PBEX) slated this July 17-19,
2015 at Megatrade, SM Megamall is a trade event and a educational forum where
issues of the SMEs will be discussed and answered by invited resource speakers
expert in the ASEAN Integration and SME situation of the country.
The 6th PBEX holds three conferences as its
highlight. The ASEAN SME Business
Conference on July 17 – a forum that will discuss ASEAN Integration and its
impact to SMEs; the Business Readiness
and Disaster Preparedness Summit on July 18 – a timely forum that will
discuss the critical actions to take during business emergencies; and the Travel Business Forum on July 19 – a
forum that will tackle exciting opportunities and situations that ASEAN
Integration presents to the tourism industry of the country.
Other educational activities include: Cash Flow Seminar,
Asenso Pinoy Business Forum and Ka Entrep Summit and Negosyo Power Seminars.
More than 100 companies are participating in the event they
belong to the following categories: Finance, Food, Franchising, Property,
Beauty and Wellness, Transportation and Services.
In a study in 2006, the country’s economy is dominated by
the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) dominated the economy and
accounted for almost 99.6% of the total number of establishments. Despite this
huge number, they only accounted for 61.2% of the country’s total employment
and 35.7% of total value added.
In addition, the study revealed that in spite of present
programs and policies created for SMEs, access to finance has remained one of the
most critical factors affecting the competitiveness of the sector. Many private
banks are still reluctant to lend to SMEs because of lack of credit information
and low appreciation of lending to small businesses. More specific issues on
SME financing include lack of acceptable collateral, slow loan processing,
short repayment period, high interest rates, difficulties in load
restructuring, and lack of start-up funds.
The 6th PBEX is an SME Business Expo that
continuously champions the growth and promotion of SMEs in the country. Since
its inception, it has provided linkages between government agencies and
institutions and participating companies.
For visitors of the event, they are benefiting for the paid
conferences and free seminars as they get to acquire hottest trends in
business. At the same time, the participating companies offer great partnerships
and exposures that further develop the entrepreneurial acumen and interests.
The 6th PBEX is supported and will be attended by
members of the following associations: Philippine Marketing Association, Local
Business Chambers, Chartered Association of Business Administrators, Community
Craft Association of the Philippines, People Management Association of the
Philippines, Association of Development Financing Institution of the Asia
Pacific, Advertising Association of the Philippines and Department of Trade and
Industry.
The following companies sponsor the event: Brothers
International, Citibank, China Bank, Azalea Boracay, Azalea Baguio, Beauty and
Butter, Becken, UCPB and Steinhardt Alliance.
The event media partners are Business World, Business
Insight, Asenso Pinoy TV, Light Network, Wazzup Pilipinas, and What Happening.
Ex-link Management and Marketing Services Corporation is the
event manager of the 6th PBEX, for more information call tel. no.
643-3887 or email info@exlinkevents.com
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