Stakeholders, led by DTI regional director Asteria C. Caberte (3rd from right), sign an agreement for the establishment of a Negosyo Center in Dalaguete. (CDN PHOTO/VICTOR ANTHONY V. SILVA)
MICRO, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) in southern Cebu will now have access to government services after a Negosyo Center was opened in Dalaguete town yesterday.
Located in the town’s public market, the center is the first one launched in the south and is the third one to open in the province this year.
“What we want to do is make it easier for businesses to avail of government services,” Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Central Visayas director Asteria C. Caberte said.
DTI targets to open 10 Negosyo Centers in the province this year, with the remaining seven to be launched in Daanbantayan, Talisay City, Carcar City, Mandaue City, Lapu-Lapu City, Tuburan, and at the University of the Philippines Cebu in Lahug, Cebu City.
Negosyo Centers were launched in Santa Fe on Bantayan Island and San Remigio town, northern Cebu earlier this year. Last year, a center was opened in Bogo City.
A Negosyo Center aims to promote ease of doing business and facilitates access to services for MSMEs within its jurisdiction.
Among the services it offers are business registration assistance, business advisory services, business information and advocacy, and monitoring and evaluation.
Personnel from the DTI and local government unit man the center. Those who can avail of the center’s services are, among others, any retail or manufacturing enterprise with an asset size of P3 million and below, said Caberte.
Three business name registration certificates, all processed within 15 minutes each, were turned over to local entrepreneurs during yesterday’s launch.
Caberte said the decision to put up a Negosyo Center in Dalaguete was driven by the identity of the town as a growth center in the south mainly due to its booming vegetable sector.
Caberte said she hoped not only businesses in Dalaguete will avail of the center’s services, but those from neighboring towns as well.
In Central Visayas, Negosyo Centers have been launched at the DTI offices in Cebu City, Tagbilaran City in Bohol, and Siquijor town in Siquijor.