RAYMUND B HABARADAS
Last week, I talked about how the Philippines’ support for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) was a little above average when compared to other Asean member states (AMSs). This is according to the Asean SME Policy Index 2014. In terms of institutional framework, the first policy dimension, it scored relatively well in terms of intra-governmental coordination in policy formulation, and in having a resourceful and effective policy-executing agency [kudos to the Department of Trade and Industry], but fared poorly in facilitating the transition of SMEs from the informal to the formal sector.