SMALL and medium enterprises (SMEs) from the Philippines recently scored big in the Asean Business Awards.

Go Negosyo founder Jose Ma. "Joey" Concepcion 3rd said the Home Healthlink Innovations, Felta Multimedia Inc. and Esquire Financing bested other SMEs from the region in their respective categories.

Home Healthlink Innovations and Felta Multimedia Inc. won the top prizes in the SME Priority Sector Healthcare and SME Excellence in Innovation categories. Esquire Financing romped off with a special award for its role in MSME financing.

They joined other winning SMEs from Cambodia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam and Singapore.

Concepcion said the local firms' victory demonstrates the innovation and passion of Filipino SMEs.

"There are 71 million MSMEs in the Asean region, accounting for almost all of the total establishments. In the Philippines, these small entrepreneurs also account for a large majority of the total enterprises. Considering their important role in job generation and in our collective economic recovery, we must continue to support them," Concepcion, the Asean Business Advisory Council (BAC) chairman for the Philippines, said in a statement Sunday.

Felta Multimedia President and CEO Mylene Abiva said the recognition is a testament to the company's pioneering excellence in robotics technology education in the country and a reward for introducing new teaching methods, tools and curriculum in both public and private schools.

"Receiving the Asean Business Awards 2022 for SME Innovation is a validation of our emphasis on science, technology, and innovation as a critical enabler for sustainable development, particularly on economic growth, social development, human resource capital, technology-driven jobs revolution and environmental sustainability in Asean," Abiva said.

Home Healthlink's success was attributed to its efforts to provide quality transitional, intermediate, health rehabilitation, wellness, standalone, and palliative care for house-bound patients.

"Receiving this award has only given us more drive and inspiration to continue fulfilling our mission of providing safe, convenient, responsive, cost-effective, and caring hospital-grade medical services from the comforts of one's own home," said Home Healthlink CEO Dr. Sheila Acosta.

Esquire Financing was recognized for providing collateral-free loans for small businesses, becoming one of the country's leading providers of loans to SMEs.

Even during the pandemic, the company continued lending to businesses, and has vowed to partner with the Philippine government to help businesses recover.

Esquire also operates a nonprofit microfinancing arm, Help Foundation.

The annual Asean Business Awards recognizes outstanding and successful enterprises that contribute to the region's economic growth and prosperity.

Concepcion said the Asean Mentorship for Entrepreneurs Network, or AMEN, the legacy project of his chairmanship of the Asean BAC, continues to be actively expanded and sustained across Asean.

AMEN is a public-private partnership platform that supports regional MSMEs through mentorship and training based on modules used by the Go Negosyo program Kapatid Mentor Microenterprises.

Phase 1 of the initiative was piloted in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines while Phase 2 is set to be implemented in the entire region with the support of the Japan-Asean Integration Fund.

The Asean Business Awards is designed to encourage regional cohesiveness and global competitiveness.