Philippine franchise brands that expanded outside the country have helped the local franchising sector amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

Philippine Franchise Association (PFA) president Richard Sanz said the group’s strategy to bring Filipino franchise brands abroad has now helped Philippine-based stores to keep their businesses afloat amid the strict lockdown measures being implemented here.

“Now, the crisis has shown us the overseas outlets of these Philippine franchise brands have proven themselves to be the lifesavers when the Philippine-based stores were forced to close because of the lockdown,” Sanz said at the opening of the Franchise Asia Philippines 2020 Monday.

He said it has been PFA’s strategy to bring Filipino franchise brands abroad rather than Philippine labor.

“Because of franchising’s power to create jobs and businesses, we should be getting support so that we can help bring our economy back on its feet. More than just creating businesses and jobs, franchising is also an effective instrument in globalizing brands,” he added.

Moreover, Sanz said the Philippines remains an attractive market for international franchises.

Citing a United States-based think tank EGS, the PFA chief said the Philippines leads Southeast Asian nations as the best destination for international franchises due to the country’s economic growth, market size, intellectual property protection, ease of entry, ease of starting a business, corruption index, political situation, economic factors, long-term investment level risk, and projected Covid-19 recovery.

“Even now, the PFA Secretariat still gets inquiries from other countries on how to expand here,” Sanz said.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said franchising is a “tried and tested” model for entrepreneurship.

“On the part of the government, we’ve been helping the local franchise industry by accelerating the exposure of your various franchise business models worldwide, with the help of our Philippine Trade and Investment Centers,” Lopez said.

He added that with the Bayanihan 2 being enacted into law, the government continues to create a conducive environment to do business despite the pandemic with the regulatory relief provided by the new law.

Under Bayanihan 2, the Small Business (SB) Corp. has a PHP10-billion fund to offer financial assistance to micro, small, and medium enterprises through the Covid-19 Assistance to Restart Enterprises (CARES) program.

The new CARES program will also extend SB Corp.’s loan programs to benefit cooperatives and repatriated overseas Filipino workers. (PNA)