DTI spurs countryside growth with Negosyo Centers

The Negosyo Center Program continues to serve as the gateway to ease of doing business and countryside development, as it conveys its services to more local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) through its over a thousand Centers in the country.

For the first quarter of 2019, 1,068 Negosyo Centers have already been established nationwide, supplemented by the 16 Centers established in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) since 2017. These Centers are situated in locations convenient for MSMEs and other clients, in which, 964 of these Centers are located at local government uits (LGUs), 81 are situated in Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Regional Offices, 12 in the academe, 7 in malls, and 4 at non-government oganizations (NGOs). 821 or around 77% of the Centers were established under President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s term. This supports the mandate of the President to sustain and develop the MSME sector.

For the year 2019 onward, the Department aims to focus more on the enhancement of services provided by the Negosyo Centers. This shift in focus is to complement the continuous establishment of more Centers in the country and the increasing number of clients being served.

SERVICES OFFERED BY THE NEGOSYO CENTERS

The prime directive of the Negosyo Centers is to provide and facilitate access to various business development services for the MSMEs. Branched into three core components, the services being offered by Negosyo Centers entail Business Advisory, Business Registration Assistance, and Business Information and Advocacy.

Negosyo Centers provide potential and existing MSMEs with business advisory services that will cater their different needs through one on one consultation, focus group discussion and coaching and mentoring. Through the Business Registration Assistance, the Business Counsellors facilitate processing and documentation of necessary paper requirements such as the Business Name Registration. Complementing these, the Centers conduct trainings, seminars and dialogues to increase the MSMEs productivity and efficiency.

Negosyo Centers Business Counsellors, also serve as catalyst to other MSME-serving programs of the Department such as the Kapatid Mentor ME Program or KMME, Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso (P3), Shared Services Facilities (SSF), and OTOP Next Gen Project, among others. PR