Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the country received a total of P16.65bn (US$300m) in loans last year through the SME Unified Lending Opportunities for National Growth (Sulong) programme.
According to the accomplishment report of the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Council (Smedc), the original target for the Sulong programme was just P10bn (US$180m).
Joyce Natalie Yang, Visayas representative of Smedc, said that access to financing was among the major concerns of SMEs.
According to the report, participating government financial institutions also approved P41m (US$738,207) in loans under the “Isang Bayan Programme.”
To address the concerns of SMEs regarding the marketing of their products, trade fairs enabled some 737 SMEs nationwide to generate P157.95m (US$2.8m) in sales last year.
Some 54 SMEs who got help through selling missions also achieved $3.237m in sales.
