Negosyo Centers specially for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) that will provide OFWs and their families options to either pursue business and stay in the country for good, or continue working abroad and entrust the business to their families and relatives, have recently been set up.
DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez has called on OFWs to invest back in the country as demand for work abroad may not be an all-time high.
He reportedly said OFWs may explore idea-based, demand-driven and innovation-led business and investment opportunities at home in the industries of food, franchising, agriculture and services.
“The OFWs’ distinguishing characteristic of being hardworking is the same element that will lead them to better quality of life,” he was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, the Department of Trade and Industry expanded significantly and strengthened its support and services to the growing number of micro, small and medium enterprises nationwide, tripling the number of Negosyo Centers established across the country from 144 in 2015 to 447 in 2016, a government said in a statement.
In 2016, DTI hit almost 200 percent of the 150 target with 298 Negosyo Centers built. Majority of the Centers launched last year covered the period July to December 2016 under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, with 197 centers launched.
DTI also reportedly surpassed its set targets for the establishment of Negosyo Centers for two consecutive years. In 2015, DTI established 144 Centers, exceeding the 100 target.
Through Negosyo Centers, DTI assisted a total of 491,314 clients nationwide and conducted over 6,000 seminars for MSMEs and aspiring entrepreneurs. Negosyo Centers also created over 41,000 MSMEs. There were 213,092 clients served from July to November 201 alone, said the news portal.
“An entrepreneurial nation is what will give the Philippines a good chance towards economic prosperity. Negosyo Centers are people’s partners towards inclusive growth. This is part of the government’s commitment to encourage entrepreneurship among ordinary Filipinos,” DTI Sec. Ramon Lopez reportedly said.
As infrastructures of entrepreneurship, Negosyo Centers provide efficient services to MSMEs across the archipelago, including through provision of business mentoring services, information on market and access to money. These Centers are expected to bring in business opportunities to communities and MSMEs and contribute to countryside development, reported The Visayan Daily Star.
