nestor a espenilla, jr : turning vision into partnership speech by mr nestor a espenilla, jr, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), at the awards ceremony and appreciation lunch, manila, 11 july 2017. * * * pdic president roberto tan, national statistician lisa bersales, members of the monetary board, sector heads, fellow bspers, former central bank governor jaime c. laya, guests, a pleasant good morning to all of you. magandang umaga especially to our stakeholders and awardees. every year for the last fourteen ( 14 ) years we at the bsp have held this annual ceremony traditionally right around this time : our anniversary month … there is significance in this chosen timing. the message we wish to convey is that, not only do we value you : our stakeholders... more so, we recognize that the bsp would not have achieved all it has if it were not for your partnership. this is why we celebrate with you during our milestone month of july. the theme of our 24th anniversary here at the bsp is “ together moving forward : a new season of excellence. ” there is a journey implied, and a needed collaboration and cooperation expressed. this theme includes, not just the members of the bsp family progressing onward in unity, but this includes you too, our esteemed stakeholders, whom we honor today. i have been with the bsp – then, the central bank of the philippines – since 1981 … and as a young central banker one of my tasks was to draft technical speeches … so even thirty - six years after, i still have a passion for words. let me focus on this event ’ s keyword. stakeholder. it sounds quite ominous. its origin is consistent with this sense of foreboding. the word “ stakeholder ” first appeared in the oxford english dictionary in 1708. it referred to one holding a wager, a bet. thankfully, for us now, the word has evolved into a dynamic — even an exciting and active concept, where speculation has no role. as presently understood, stakeholders are partners and can be involved in the successes of an enterprise, from whose accomplishments they too can greatly benefit. the importance of collaboration and partnerships was stressed by governor amando m. tetangco, jr. in his two ( 2 ) terms at the bsp ’ s helm … gov. say repeatedly said that in

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