Marcos says MSMEs should be knowledgeable about AI

President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. on Tuesday ordered the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to develop the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) by introducing them to artificial intelligence (AI)- powered system.

Marcos said this would help the MSMEs comply with the changing technological demands in the country. He noted that the MSMEs need to be fully equipped with modern technology to keep up with both physical and online demands.

“We are not teaching them to be engineers, AI engineers. We’re not teaching them to be blockchain engineers. We’re teaching them how to use the system that we have provided. That, I think, we have to be clear about that,” Marcos said during the sectoral meeting with the agency.

“Don’t teach the theory that goes on behind it, but just teach what it is that they need to use the AI. That’s the whole point of AI, you just talk, that’s where we want to get them to,” he added.

Marcos said the government’s efforts to introduce MSMEs to the AI system aims to ensure the ease of doing business, and to make it “as easy as possible, as simple as possible” for these small businesses.

The Presidential Communications Office said that in 2022, MSMEs comprised 99.59% of the total establishments in the Philippines.

They contributed 65.10% to total employment, highlighting their huge impact on jobs and livelihood in the country, added the PCO. — Anna Felicia Bajo/RSJ, GMA Integrated News