A CANDIDATE from the PROMDI party who is running for councilor in Cagayan de Oro City’s 2nd District Ronald Rufin, on Wednesday implied for the government’s COVID-19 response centered on pushing the economy forward during the pandemic by utilizing digital policies to empower workers and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
“Amid pandemic, internet service is a necessity and yet it isn't regulated and utilized by government as a utility the way services like water and electricity are,” said Rufin.
Rufin earlier laid out one of his plans of a ‘free wifi’ in city’s 80 barangays through digital technologies being the main drivers of the economy in the “new normal.”
Tech companies and the LGUs according to Rufin must act together to support small & medium businesses during COVID and prepare to support them in a post-COVID world.
Rufin even said, MSMEs are now crucial and need to be recovered.
“For a true economic recovery in Cagayan de Oro City, small businesses will need more support and one them is digital technologies to be initiated by the government,” said Rufin.
He said some solutions are emerging, like online advertising that can be used by small businesses that will bring online customers to existing business or new digital offerings, which is vital in the coming years.
It can be recalled that Rufin is the one who bring the latest technology of cellular phone repair in Cagayan De Oro way back 2000’s.
“Technology has been deployed throughout the pandemic to keep economies going and to keep people connected, healthy and safe,” he said.
The existing focus of the tech response now has been directed toward governments, according to Rufin.
But most policymakers do not address the needs of small and medium sized businesses like the used or even to access them to the internet.
He said this disparity was appropriate in the pandemic’s initial phases, as the globe still shifted to fight the virus.
But as the world settles into a “new normal,” Rufin said policymakers’ attention must include how tech companies can support small and medium business, especially as businesses will struggle to survive.
Like here in Cagayan de Oro, small and medium businesses are typically categorized as those formal and informal companies employing fewer individuals.
“Despite their size, small and medium businesses, still, constitute a significant portion of the city’s economy in terms of jobs,” said Rufin.
These small and medium businesses have less robust business contingency plans kicking in during the health crisis.
Rufin said that all these factors will contribute to the fact that many small and medium sized businesses were forced to close their doors during the pandemic and will never reopen.
He said this is to assist the recovery of small business affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, that it needs stronger market and financial access in order to prosper even in global market through on-line commerce.
“We can Help these MSMEs migrate online through the use of digital platforms in marketing their products,” said Rufin.
He said that likely the several DTI-initiated programs to support small businesses, especially small online businesses, which have been growing and thriving during this time of the pandemic.
Like the DTI, across the entire e-commerce ecosystem have provided their expertise and experiences on how to take advantage of the digital space and the utilization of effective financial technology, he said.
“We must save MSMEs to save jobs and revive the economy,” said Rufin, adding that we must generate income that brings back demand, demand that attracts more production and service activities through free internet access, the way to sthrengthen the economy. (Ben Balce)
