By Perla Lena/Philippine News Agency
ILOILO CITY – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Iloilo provincial office on Wednesday rolled out the Negosyo Serbisyo sa Barangay program in two villages in fourth-class municipalities of the province.
In a phone interview, DTI Assistant Regional Director and concurrent Director for Iloilo Ermelinda P. Pollentes said the program, which is an information dissemination activity, seeks to bring the services of DTI and other government agencies closer to people in the barangays.
By bringing the program to barangays, they would be able to raise the awareness of the locals about their services that are available through their Negosyo Centers, identify micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and conduct business development assistance, among others.
“Here we discuss programs of DTI and other initiatives to help our MSMEs become globally competitive,” she said.
The program was in Brgy. Jalaud Norte, Zarraga in the morning and in Brgy. Iniligan in Badiangan town in the afternoon.
The DTI was joined by representatives from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) and the Small Business Corporation (SBC) during the launching in Zarraga.
This year, the DTI targets to bring the program to 87 barangays in the province which belong to 20 percent of the total number of barangays from Iloilo’s 13 fourth class and four-fifth class towns.
“This is the first year of its implementation so we are targeting that 100 percent of the fourth and fifth class municipalities in all provinces nationwide will be assisted by the year 2022,” Pollentes said.
On July 26, the program will be in selected villages of Lemery and San Dionisio towns.
On the other, Nelida D. Octaviano, Zarraga Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) president and barangay captain of Jalaud Norte, said they are glad to be chosen as the kick-off site for the program.
She said her barangay, a commercial area, has a population of around 2,000 and most of the residents are engaged in business.
“The program is very helpful,” she said, adding that more MSMEs coming in as a result of the information campaign program would mean employment for the locals.
For the latest updates about this story, visit the Philippine News Agency website
