Philippines

Phase II

MSMEs play a key role in promoting socioeconomic development in the Philippines. According to the Department of Trade and Industry Philippines, there were over 1.2 million MSMEs in 2023, comprising approximately 99.6 per cent of all enterprises in the economy. With the increased participation of women in the Philippine economy, MSME entrepreneurship arises as an instrument for women’s economic empowerment and poverty reduction.

While there has been progress to support women and young women MSME entrepreneurs in the Philippines, women — particularly in minority and rural communities — face disproportionate challenges in entrepreneurship, including barriers to digital literacy and technical expertise. To address these challenges, the APEC-Canada Growing Business Partnership (ACGBP) is working with local stakeholders in the Philippines to mitigate policy challenges through gender-responsive solutions. ACGBP will equip policy actors with the necessary tools to remove barriers to the digital transformation for women-led MSMEs, including policy briefs and workshops on best practices.

Phase I

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Phase I of the APEC-Canada Growing Business Partnership in the Philippines focused on capacity building by scaling up access to new markets for products and services to make MSME growth more inclusive. Gender-inclusive programming worked to support women and girls in closing the gender gap in micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

This phase began in 2016 and concluded in May 2021.