Baguio Congressman pushes for creation of entrepreneurship academy

September 16, 2019 Community Billboard

Representative Mark Go ofthe Lone District of Baguio filed House Bill (HB) 4263 to create the Philippine Entrepreneurs Academy on Thursday, August 29, 2019. The bill seeks to establish a specialized institute offering degree and short-term courses on entrepreneurship to empower the youth sector in creating business opportunities.

Go said the Academy will introduce a curriculum designed specifically to increase the competencies of its students in entrepreneurship, and will encourage practical innovation through scientific and policy-oriented education. He also said the proposed measure aims to strengthen the economy by infusing new blood into the MSME sector, and to provide responsive and updated training programs to enable entrepreneurs to grow their businesses.

MSMEs account for 99.5 percent of enterprises in the Philippines, employing 63 percent of the country’s workforce, based on 2015 data of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

This falls behind other ASEAN nations such as Indonesia, which is composed of 92 percent of total jobs, and Thailand at 80 percent. The contribution of MSMEs to the country’s total GDP remains at 36% only, despite accounting for two-thirds of the workforce.

“This measure seeks to cultivate a strong culture of entrepreneurship among the youth, and to facilitate the growth of MSMEs and larger investments as driver towards our twin goals of national productivity and job creation.” Go said.