CEBU – Cebu is one of six areas in the country that has been identified to initially establish the “Negosyo Center” aimed at pushing for the development of small and medium enterprises amid the full implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community integration by next year, the Philippine Information Agency said.
Trade Undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya said the passage of the RA 10644, otherwise known as the ‘Go Negosyo Act’ of 2014, is a very significant development that aims to boost the development of SMEs.
She said under the law, every province, city and municipality is required to put up a Negosyo Center, seen to bring government services closer to small businesses.
Maglaya said the Negosyo Center can be housed either at the regional or provincial office of the Department of Trade and Industry or in the building of the local government unit.
“By next year, we hope to establish 100 Negosyo Centers,” said Maglaya following the establishment of the six priority areas.
According to the DTI, the Negosyo Center is designed to promote ease of doing business and facilitating access to services for micro, small and medium enterprises. The center is also responsible in providing assistance to MSMEs in the areas of technology transfer, production and management training programs and marketing assistance from the DTI and other concerned government agencies
Maglaya said the development of the SMEs would create more job opportunities and translate this to inclusive growth.
Developing SMEs can make them more competitive amid the AEC integration, claimed Maglaya during a recent multi-sectoral briefing on the country’s AEC Game Plan and Industry Roadmap in Cebu attended by over 200 participants.
Maglaya said the AEC seeks to create a single market and a single production base within the Asean region, and become fully integrated with the global market.
“We need to work together to deal with the challenges and opportunities of the Asean Economic Community and identify interventions and initiatives to upgrade industries,” said Maglaya, adding that there is a need to strengthen the competitiveness of regional economies.
Maglaya said since January 2010, almost all goods have been traded at zero tariffs among Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines. Only very few products remain protected by tariffs within the ASEAN and in the Philippines and these are primarily agricultural products like rice, sugar, cassava and sweet potatoes, maize, chicken and swine.
She said the Philippines stands to enjoy the vast promises and strong growth potentials of the AEC integration with an access to a 600 million people market and receive the benefits of a dynamic competition.(Cebu Examiner – PIA)
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