MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews / 13 Aug) – The Department of Trade and Industry has approved 7 of 11 proposed projects worth P10.5 million under their Shared Service Facility project for micro, small, and medium enterprises.
Junar Merla, DTI-Bukidnon senior trade and industry official, said DTI has allotted a total of P47 million for the project for Northern Mindanao in 2013. Aside from Bukidnon, the allotment is for projects in Camiguin, Lanao del Norte, Misamis Oriental, and Misamis Occidental.
Merla told reporters attending the Strictly Business news conference Monday that the four other proposals were “not disapproved” but had to be “improved for re-submission.”
DTI Bukidnon eyed a total of 17 projects this year for SSF, which is DTI’s flagship program to promote the development of small and medium enterprises.
SSF involves providing facilities shared by a number of beneficiaries, such as cooperatives, institutions and communities, to help them compete both in the local and world markets.
More than half of the P10.487 million approved for Bukidnon goes to two coffee-based projects.
DTI approved a coffee processing facility of the Hineleban Foundation, Inc. (HFI) based in Brgy. Kalugmanan, Manolo Fortich town worth P3.46 million and a coffee post harvest and storage shared service facility by Peace Builders Community, Inc. based in San Miguel, Maramag town.
The rest of the projects include abaca-based handicraft by the Malaybalay City Federation of Rural Improvement Club, Inc. (MCFRICI) worth P360,000; abaca product enhancement project using abaca presser also by MCFRICI worth P800,000; and bamboo node primary processing facility also by Hineleban Foundation, Inc. worth P612,000.
DTI also approved water hyacinth-based production by the Pulangi Watershed Handicrafts Producers Association (PWHPA) in Tubigon, Maramag town worth P300,000 and wood furniture production by Barangay Laborers Association (BALAS) in Tongantongan, Valencia City worth P1.124 million.
To be eligible for the project, a proposal must address processing and or manufacturing gaps or bottlenecks of the industry cluster due to absence of the needed facility; lack of capacity of an existing facility; and the cost of services of an existing facility is not available.
Also, the proposal should increase the productivity of the industry cluster, Merla said.
He added that the proposal should be designed to support micro-small enterprises, not large enterprises. He said they prefer startup projects, and required an eligible co-operator, which any juridical entity like a non-government organization, people’s organization, cooperative, industry/trade/business association, and academic institutions.
Industries eligible to the project include raw materials supply chain such as abaca, bamboo, and coconut; processed tropical fruits, processed fish or marine products; leveraging industries supply chain such as fashion accessories, gifts, decors, and house wares; support industries such as metals and renewable energy; and other agri-based industries such as cacao, dairy, coffee, organic fertilizer, and processed food.
