Message from the General Manager,
Mr. Robert S. de Guzman

To our Valued SME.COM.PH Members,

For more than two years, PDB SME Solutions (formerly Plantersbankecommerce.com) has worked with small and medium enterprises in finding the right formula that would make "Filipino SMEs use ICT as a tool to change and enrich the way they do business". Being a unique organization involved in what we termed "developmental Information & Communications Technology", we and our partners ventured to conduct our mission during times when technology, much less, e-commerce is not considered an essential component of doing business. Needless to say, our progress in meeting our objectives has been very slow.

From an initial offering of e-commerce solutions, we have expanded to other technology solutions that are more basic and essential to the operation of a business. Our decision to shift our focus on technology offerings was mainly due to our growing understanding of SMEs and what really is the value of technology to them. As we learned, the uptake of ICT among Philippine SMEs is quite low and there is much need to provide guidance in order to spur its acceptance and appreciation. We estimate that eventually, when SMEs' appreciation and usage of technology expands, the market will be ready to move towards a business enhanced or even built through e-commerce.

We believe that this uptake is underway although in small steps. Much of our belief and pride comes from the fact that we now have over 300 SMEs who are members of our sme.com.ph community. Belonging to a cross section of industries, our members joined sme.com.ph for various reasons. A significant number wants to pursue basic Web presence for their company. Others want to have a more interactive means to be in touch with their clients and partners. However, some members have actually pursued e-commerce initiatives wherein their products and services are sold on the Web. We are happy to say that these businesses have been successful in their approaches.

There is much to thank for our humble success through the past years. From everyone at PDB SME Solutions, we would like to express our appreciation most especially to you, our members at sme.com.ph, for believing in our program. By helping us to understand you more, we have learned to understand ourselves as well.

Again, our heartfelt thanks to you! We look forward to a longer-lasting relationship with you marked with mutual success, trust and confidence.

Very truly yours,


Robert S. de Guzman