PROMOTING NEGOSYO SA BARANGAY. Department of Trade and Industry Acting Provincial Director Rosario Quodala tells participants about the latest updates on trade and industry promotion and development during the launching of 'Negosyo sa Barangay' in Adams, Ilocos Norte on Friday (Aug. 2, 2019). NSB aims to bring the DTI's services closer to people. (Photo by Leilanie G. Adriano)
LAOAG CITY -- Representatives of the Department of Trade and Industry are reaching out to underserved communities to help residents become entrepreneurs.
As starting a business is quite challenging, DTI Acting Provincial Director Rosario Quodala said Monday that the Negosyo Serbisyo sa Barangay (NSB) program is being rolled out in various parts of the province particularly in villages under the 4th, 5th and 6th income classification municipalities.
Since July 26, Quodala reported the agency has been coordinating with officials in the towns of Adams, Carasi, Currimao, Bangui, Paoay and Banna in Ilocos Norte province for the launching of the NSB.
“NSB aims to see small businesses in the Barangay to go mainstream and be empowered,” said Quodala, citing current DTI programs, services and plans are being brought to the barangays to increase people’s access to trade and industry promotion and development. Some of the on-site services offered are business registration assistance and advisories on product development.
Last Friday, Quodala led the DTI team to Adams, the smallest town in the province with only one village, to conduct information and education drive as well as the launch of the pioneering NSB in the village.
“We, at the DTI-Ilocos Norte bring closer our services through the NSB. Adams is one of the municipalities which is rich in raw materials, and through this launching, we will boost the entrepreneurs here to develop the area to a better marketplace,” Quodala told some 50 small and would-be entrepreneurs who attended the launching.
She hopes that the program will serve as a bridge for them to scale up their operations.
“We are thankful for all these government services now being brought close to our doors. We don’t need to travel far just to access these services anymore,” said Dr. Bielmaju Waley, a winemaker and food processor in Adams.
To date, the DTI continues to establish Negosyo Centers in communities to make their services more accessible to the public as well as identify the micro, small, and medium enterprises operating within barangays and conduct business development assistance and services in identified communities.
The program also intends to develop 200,000 new enterprises that are expected to provide more than half a million new jobs by 2022 in support of DTI’s goals under the MSME Development Plan 2017-2022. (PNA)
