ZAMBOANGA CITY — The Department of Trade and Industry-Zamboanga Peninsula office (DTI-9) has urged local government units (LGUs) to move their respective business licensing offices to the Negosyo Centers to further ease the business process for micro, small, and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs).

Having the local permit processing will “make our facility a one-stop shop for our MSMEs,” said DTI Regional Director Sitti Amina M. Jain in a statement issued last week in time for the opening of two new centers located in the municipalities of Gutalac and Polanco in Zamboanga del Norte.

“By that, we mean not just DTI, but also our concerned partner agencies like DoST (Department of Science and Technology), TESDA (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority), DoLE (Department of Labor and Employment), and even BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue), they can conduct their trainings and briefings here,” Ms. Jain said.

The Negosyo Centers nationwide, set up in cooperation with LGUs and the private sector, are supervised by the MSMED Council through the DTI.

Ms. Jain said the DTI is aiming to establish one in all the 67 municipalities and five cities in the region.

“The launching of these (two new) facilities brings us to 40 operational and functioning Negosyo Centers in Zamboanga Peninsula,” she said.

The establishment of Negosyo Centers, provided under Republic Act No. 10644 or the Go Negosyo Act, is intended to promote and facilitate access to services for MSMEs.

Data released by the DTI last week, based on the 2016 List of Establishments of the Philippine Statistics Authority, show that the country’s 911,768 MSMEs account for 99.57% of the total 900,914 business establishments in the country.

Of the MSMEs, 89.63% (820,795) were microenterprises, 9.50% (86,955) were small, and 0.44% (4,018) were medium.

In the Zamboanga Peninsula Region, DTI-9 records show 11,809 registered businesses, up from 7,323 in 2016. — Albert F. Arcilla

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