SB Corp., PFA tout franchising as path to creating more jobs

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said its financing unit, the Small Business Corp., has partnered with the Philippine Franchise Association (PFA) to promote franchising as a means of boosting entrepreneurship and job creation.

Acting Trade Secretary Cristina A. Roque said a memorandum of agreement (MoA) signed with the PFA aims to encourage micro, small, and medium enterprises to explore franchising.

“The best way to recover, bounce back, and grow is to get into franchising … with franchising, the chances of success are higher than failure because (the business concept) has been tested,” she added.

As part of the partnership, SB Corp. President and Chief Executive Officer Robert C. Bastillo said the company will be launching new loan programs this month, including a franchise funding facility.

“We will announce that (the facility) is open and that anybody can avail of our loan programs. And since we signed this MoA, it will speed things up,” Mr. Bastillo said.

“The guidelines are ready, so all we have to do really is launch it. And our plan is that during the launch, we will invite 50 potential franchisees, and process (their loan applications) on the same day,” he said.

“We will have our credit committee here as well to deliberate on the approval within the same day,” he added.

According to Mr. Bastillo, SB Corp. is ready to allocate up to P1 billion for the franchise funding program.

PFA Chairman Chris Lim said the partnership will help the Philippines achieve its goal of being a middle-income country by 2040.

“We love this MoA because it really tackles the different aspects that can help us do this. Firstly is education, not just locally but also for our overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), where I think there’s a lot of untapped value,” he said.

“We want to really create jobs for OFWs so they can come back here to be with their families,” he added.

He said SB Corp. funding will go a long way in addressing the lack of access capital for many entrepreneurs.

“We also know that the DTI mentors a lot of suppliers all over the Philippines. And we want to be able to link up with them, together with franchisors and franchisees,” he said.

“The last part of the MoA was really (about) how we can develop more global Filipino brands… because we know that it will also bring in investments and dollar income,” he said. — Justine Irish D. Tabile