amando m tetangco, jr : effective lending to smes in the philippines speech by mr amando m tetangco, jr, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( the central bank of the philippines ), at the launch of the 2012 rcbc sme initiatives, makati city, 16 may 2012. * * * the officers and staff of rcbc under the leadership of president lorenzo tan ; entrepreneurs from the sme sector ; fellow advocates in promoting access to credit ; special guests, good evening. it is my pleasure to join this launch of innovative and customer - friendly initiatives of rcbc... in support of small and medium enterprises : the phone - a - loan service and the women ’ s enterprise loan program. these two programs join the internet - based loan self - assessment service introduced in 2009. indeed, rcbc deserves commendation for these services that enable smes to find out early on – by telephone or internet – if their business fits in … with rcbc ’ s sme initiatives. this is … therefore … a win - win program that saves time... for both the entrepreneurs seeking credit and the bank offering credit. the women ’ s enterprise loan program is also noteworthy for addressing the need of filipina entrepreneurs … not only for credit, … but also for incorporating other financial services, training and business networking. in other words, this program is designed to support the growth of smes managed by filipinas. this is a good decision. in the microfinance world, it has been proven... repeatedly... that women make exceptional entrepreneurs and have good credit discipline. that you are launching the women ’ s enterprise loan program on the week of the celebration of mother ’ s day … makes your program even more meaningful. ladies and gentlemen. we need our financial system to reach out to underserved and the presently unserved. together, we should work on having an inclusive financial system that brings about inclusive growth … in our country. this is the value of your sme program. as it is, the 2010 financial access survey indicated that only around 20 % of our small firms access loans from financial institutions. the figure is higher in our neighboring countries ; in malaysia, for instance, the comparable figure is 60 %. the impact of micro, small and medium enterprises on our economy and our people cannot be overemphasized. together, our msmes are estimated to employ roughly 61 % of filipino

is deeply committed to further broaden the reach of our economic and financial learning program to strengthen msmes. i am pleased to know therefore that rcbc is doing its part in promoting financial education. indeed, as a bank named after our national hero, we can expect no less. after all, dr. jose rizal was an ardent advocate of education as the way to improve the lives of filipinos. empowering our people through financial education and supporting the msme sector gain access to credit are, therefore, truly worthy pursuits for rcbc... both as a business enterprise and as a responsible corporate citizen. in his novel el filibusterismo, dr. jose rizal wrote.. and i quote : “ the greatness of a man is... in understanding his time ’ s desires, in responding to its needs, and in guiding its way forward. ” ladies and gentlemen, the programs rcbc launched today respond to the needs of our time : to help philippine msmes move forward ; to help msmes prosper into viable ventures that will employ more filipinos ; and to help msmes become viable partners in promoting inclusive and sustainable growth across the philippines. we therefore wish total success for rcbc ’ s sme programs. marami pong salamat sa inyong lahat. mabuhay ang ating mahal na bansang pilipinas! bis central bankers ’ speeches