DTI to set up Negosyo Centers in 10 areas in Cebu province

Negosyo Centers similar to this center in Hilongos, Leyte, which opened last year will be set up in Cebu province. (DTILEYTE.COM)

To service micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in  far flung areas within the Cebu province, at least 10 more Negosyo Centers will be put up in 2016.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Central Visayas recognizes the need of MSMEs for centers that are closer to their business locations and is now looking for ways to help them even further, said Elias Tecson, DTI business development chief.

A Negosyo Center offers DTI services aimed at helping businesses such as business name registration (BNR), loan and investment assistance, and even training opportunities for MSME entrepreneurs.

The new centers will open in the municipalities of Daanbantayan, Dalaguete, Minglanilla, Santa Fe, San Remigio and Tuburan as well as in the cities of Bogo, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu, Tecson said.

DTI is also looking at putting up the 10th Negosyo Center at the University of the Philippines – Cebu campus in Lahug, Cebu City.

The center in Santa Fe will be the first of the Negosyo Centers in the province and will be opened next month, Tecson said. This will be followed by those in San Remigio and Daanbantayan.

“(The basis for the order of centers) is in terms of the readiness of the LGUs,” Tecson said in a text message to Cebu Daily News.

Tecson said the agency anticipates an increase in MSMEs, with the launching and start of operations of each new Negosyo Center.

“Because of the accessibility to the centers, the number of MSMEs will increase. They will also increase because the One DTI Services program will be available in all the centers,” he said.

The establishment of Negosyo Centers in all provinces, cities and municipalities is required by the Go Negosyo Act, which aims to promote ease of doing business and facilitate access to services for MSMEs within these areas.

Meanwhile, DTI also continues to monitor the Shared Service Facility (SFF) project, under the MSME development program. The SSF helps improve their competitiveness by providing them with machinery and equipment that will help develop and improve their products.

Some 22 SSFs are located within the province. Majority of them are food processing-based facilities, but several are also targeted towards the creative and manufacturing sectors.

“We are monitoring them (facilities) and are actually compiling their success stories,” Tecson said.

He cited the Bukid Multi-Purpose Cooperative (MPC) in Balamban in western Cebu, which specializes in extracting abaca fiber, as an example.

Since utilizing the SSF last year, production of the cooperative has grown 10 times.

Tecson said their sales of abaca fiber have grown because they can produce more now, especially since they now use newer methods in extracting abaca fiber.

Beneficiaries of the SSF program can use the facilities for two years after which they can buy the the facility and its equipment from DTI.