Cebu: One of Six Areas to Establish 1st Negosyo Center in PH

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 (SMEs) amid the full implementation of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) integration by 2015.

Trade Undersecretary Zenaida C. 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. Under the law, every province, city and municipality in the country 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 (DTI) 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 open more job opportunities and translate to inclusive growth. Over 99 percent of the establishments in the country comprised of MSMEs, which accounts for 66 percent of the total employment in the private sector, according to the DTI.

Developing MSMEs 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.

According to Maglaya, 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 our regional economies.

Maglaya said since January 2010, more than 99.65 percent of 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, these are primarily agricultural products like rice, sugar, cassava and sweet potatoes, maize, chicken and swine.

Maglaya 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. (mbcn/FCR/PIA-7)