MANILA -- The Department of Trade and Industry said Thursday it would soon launch a new loan program specifically for micro entrepreneurs, which would be available via e-wallet mobile applications.

At the sideline of the Asia SME Forum in Pasay, Trade Secretary Cristina Aldeguer-Roque said the DTI has a new partnership with the Development Bank of the Philippines for an initial P500 million loan program targeted to small businesses. She said they would formally launch it either in March or in the first half of April.

“We’re going to be launching a partnership between DTI and DBP so that the sari-sari stores and the palengke can also loan through GCash, PayMaya,” she said.

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Roque said that while DTI has many loan programs, the new initiative is for micro entrepreneurs, especially who want to start or expand their sari-sari stores or wet market stalls. She said these entrepreneurs usually have limited access to financing.

They also opted to partner with e-wallet platforms since micro entrepreneurs usually have no time to go to a bank or financial institution to apply for a loan.

“Let’s say sa palengke, sila rin yung nagbabantay, sila rin ang may-ari. We want it to be easy for them so we also want to provide different avenues for these MSMEs [micro, small and medium-sized enterprises],” she said.

Roque said she would announce other details of the program during the formal launch in the coming weeks.

An advisor for MSMEs is happy with additional financing options for entrepreneurs, saying that financing or the lack of access to capital is one of the biggest challenges for startups to small businesses.

“For businesses without access to good amount of capital, their runway is very, very short. So which means they’re under a lot of pressure to succeed and succeed instantly,” said Aldie Garcia, PWC Managing Partner and mentor under DTI and Go Negosyo.

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Garcia added that aside from financing, government and the private sector should also help the young entrepreneurs to expand their work and improve their products or services. The right mentorship or training can help startups significantly.

“The aspiration is to scale up- small to become medium, the medium to become large. Because that will have a significant multiplier effect, not only in terms of job creation but also in terms of our national resiliency,” Garcia said.

One of the speakers at the forum urged the public to start their own business and seek the help of various government programs or private sector initiatives. Joey Marcelo, CEO of Sante International, said he started his barley business in 2007, but had several failures prior to that.

“I’m a product of 5 failing companies before Sante International… There will always be failures in the process. Importante lang whenever you fail, just keep on moving forward,” Marcelo said.

Sante now has a manufacturing facility in New Zealand and has offices in at least 10 countries including USA and Indonesia.