The government is set to borrow from the World Bank to help fund a program aimed at helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) expand their reach into global markets, a trade official said.

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Export Marketing Bureau director Bianca Sykimte said the government is in talks with the World Bank to help grant “a sizable support” for the local export sector.

“In fact, this is an unprecedented level of support for the exporting community,” said Sykimte on the sidelines of the National Exporters’ Week.

A project briefer on the World Bank’s website indicated that the government is seeking funding for the Philippines COMPETE Plus for SMEs project.

The project is designed to strengthen SMEs, which continue to struggle with low productivity, limited participation in export markets, and barriers to integration into critical value chains.

“The project recognizes that supporting SMEs to overcome these obstacles is essential for job creation, export growth, and inclusive prosperity,” the World Bank said.

The project aims to promote the competitiveness of participating SMEs by facilitating capability upgrading and enhancing their access to market connections.

The primary intent is to produce reliable exporters that would contribute more effectively to the country’s economic transformation and development goals.

There are four components in the project: exporter and supplier development, quality assurance ecosystem strengthening, digital platform development, and effective project management.

The assistance will be in the form of investment finance, quality certification, and digital platforms.

The project is expected to cost $373 million, with the government allocating $23 million or just around six percent of the total.

The World Bank has yet to disclose how much it will lend for the project, but Sykimte said it is safe to say that the government would borrow over $100 million.

“We're confident about the consultation process that we've undertaken, the projects that we have envisioned to be part of this project,” Sykimte said.

“But again, it's still in the premature stage. We still have to secure the necessary approvals within the government and in the World Bank,” she added.

This project is expected to strengthen the export industry, having fallen to around 4,000 exporters or nearly half of the number from over a decade ago.

Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport) president Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. said many businesses have exited the export industry, simply because “it’s not a profitable business.”

For Sykimte, many exporters could have opted out of direct exporting altogether and instead consolidated with other exporters to cut costs.

She also said that some exporters shifted to the domestic market instead, owing to the country’s vast population and consumer demand.

“In terms of export figures, you can see that there's growth. Unfortunately, there is a serious decline in the number of exporters,” she said.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that exports of goods grew by 13.8 percent to $70.43 billion from January to October, compared to $61.9 billion in the same period last year.