SME Webinar in the Philippines: Digital Payments for SMEs in COVID-19

The US-ASEAN Business Council (the Council) is pleased to introduce a new initiative, SME Webinar Series in Response Covid-19 Crisis: The Importance of Digital Payment System to Support Small Business. It is a part of the ASEAN SME Academy (the Academy) and aims to help ASEAN SMEs cope with the Covid-19 crisis. It is important to enhance ASEAN SMEs’ digital skills to become more competitive in domestic markets and help SMEs to be better integrated into the regional and global value chains.
As the Covid-19 crisis hits the Philippines, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected a decrease in the Philippines’ GDP for 2020 to 0,6% from 5,9% in 2019. In the Philippines, MSME has contributed 35,7% of the total value added to the economy and employ 63,19% of the total labor force. As MSME is one of the most affected key players during the Covid-19, it is vital to help SMEs cope with the disruption to lower the risk from the economic crisis. The webinar will feature Visa representative to share the latest technology trend and initiative to support SMEs' business operations during the Covid-19 pandemic situation.