benjamin e diokno : launching of the citi micro entrepreneurship awards 2020 message by mr benjamin e diokno, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), at the launching of the citi micro entrepreneurship awards 2020, manila, 1 december 2020. * * * citi philippines ceo, mr. aftab ahmed ; members of the cma national selection committee ( nsc ) ; partners from the microfinance council of the philippines, inc. ( mcpi ) headed by mr. eduardo c. jimenez ; colleagues in the bsp ; fellow microfinance advocates ; and friends from the media : good afternoon. welcome to the virtual launch of the 18th citi microentrepreneurship awards ( cma ). this year is a landmark for the cma program, for being launched amid the covid - 19 pandemic and showcasing the determination of filipino microentrepreneurs to succeed at this trying time. a critical sector of our country, msmes account for 99. 5 % of business enterprises, 62. 4 % of total employment, and 35. 7 % of gross value added ( gva ). the pandemic disrupted msmes in unprecedented ways. more than ever, it is vital to sustain our microentrepreneurs, who provide essential products and services in the “ last mile. ” predominant in low - income areas and serving as engines driving local economies, microentrepreneurs also nurture swathes of the filipino population depending on them for postpandemic recovery and rebuilding. hence, the bsp is pulling out all the stops to support microentrepreneurs and smes. to stimulate lending to the sector, the bsp has included new loans granted to msmes as part of industry compliance with reserve requirements ; reduced the credit risk weight of current loans granted to msmes ; and assigned zero percent risk weights for loans covered by government guarantee programs. to broaden usage of digital payment streams, the bsp encouraged financial service providers ( fsps ) to waive fees for pesonet and instapay transactions. likewise, the benefits of digitization initiatives supporting our digital payments transformation roadmap ( dptr ) are expected to redound to msmes as they adopt and utilize digital financial services ( dfs ). the bsp is also implementing several projects to facilitate credit flows to the msme sector. our

means you raise deposits online and make loans online. the first part is easy ; the second part is not so easy. in our culture, apparently, you need a human being to collect on loans, but nonetheless, we are hoping digital banks can figure this out. and a couple of them are figuring it out. 3 / 7 bis - central bankers'speeches they are six now. we are limiting the number of digital banks to six licenses, but we are looking very closely at the industry and are going to decide if we are going to open it up again. maybe we can attract different business models and make the industry more exciting. we also have a regulatory sandbox. the regulatory sandbox means you try your innovation, do a proof of concept, and do a pilot, but when you do that, you work with a regulator. the regulator is there to help you and tell you what the regulatory implications might be if you succeed. we are not there to judge whether you will succeed or not. we are just there to help you. if you grow, you know what you are getting into regarding regulations. it is about minimizing regulatory uncertainty. if you have a new idea, enter a sandbox. we will assign you a regulator. we will scold you, oh bawal'yan, but that is for your own good. then, of course, there is generative ai [ artificial intelligence ]. that is inevitable. if you have used chatgpt, you know how irresistible it is. so, we do not even have to encourage it. you guys will do it without any encouragement, but of course, we have to think of guard rails for generative ai. as you know, generative ai leads to what we call hallucinations ; it imagines things that never happened. it leads to herding ; it gives the same answer to different questions. so, we think that, for now, at least, when using generative ai, a human being should work with it and look at the answers before you decide. apparently, it is not so hard to tell whether the answers are wrong. if you teach at ateneo or smu and take a take - home exam, you are almost sure the student will use ai. a student who does not use ai is not a good student. but apparently, it is easy to tell. when the homework comes in, you look at it, and you will know whether ai is used. the point