Department of Trade and Industry of the Republic o : SSF project for Calabarzon entrep to improve productivity and competitiveness, inclusive growth

Friday, January 24, 2014

To increase competitiveness of Calabarzon entrepreneurs, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) under its shared service facility (SSF) project provided production machinery and equipment to 106 cooperator-beneficiaries that are mostly farmer groups, cooperatives, and community-based enterprises.

Marilou Quinco Toledo, Regional Director for DTI in Calabarzon said that since the implementation of the project last year, DTI has acquired and rolled-off Php 49.5M worth of industry-grade machinery and equipment to improve production processes of the region's priority micro, small and medium industries, or MSME.

Most of the cooperators belong to the region's priority industry clusters which are processed food, with 44 cooperators; gifts, decors and housewares (GDH), 18; wearables, 16; coconut/cococoir, 11; bamboo, seven; and coffee, 6 cooperators. The rest are engaged in metalworks, agriculture machinery, consumer products, and homestyle.

Toledo said that the improved levels of productivity through the use of the SSF in place of the traditional manual processes will result to simplified work (lower production costs), consistent and improved quality of products, and increased output that would enable MSMEs to fulfill bulk orders in time.

Toledo added that the summation of improvements will open more business opportunities for the enterprises resulting to more income, jobs, and even boost exports and investments.

Under a memorandum of agreement with DTI, the cooperators will use the SSF without rental or any form of charges, however, will be responsible for the management and upkeep of the facility which will remain as property of DTI. 

The shared service facilities are intended not only for the use of the cooperators themselves but for other players in the industry clusters as well.

The SSF project is a component of the DTI's industry cluster development approach to increase production output and improve product quality resulting to higher levels of productivity and competitiveness. So far, it is the most significant assistance provided for the development of enterprises particularly those in the countryside.

"Ramdam na ramdam namin ang pagmalasakit at tulong ng gobyerno sa pamamagitan ng DTI", Toledo, quoting the cooperators' undivided appreciation and gratitude for the SSF project.

Although P70M was allocated for the project in Calabarzon in 2013, only P50M worth of equipment were rolled-off due to delays caused by the temporary suspension of grants in view of the issues involving the priority development assistance fund. This year, P80M will be earmarked for the region.