Friday, October 10, 2008 Vice Guv chairs enterprise council By Edmund B. Sestoso
VICE Governor Jose "Petit" Baldado was unanimously voted as chair of the reactivated Negros Oriental Small Medium Enterprise Development Council (SMEDC).
The vice governor is expected to guide the multi-sectoral members in the promotion, growth and development of Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the province.
Department of Trade and Industry Regional Director Asteria Caberte said that there is a need to harmonize the province development plan with both the regional and national SME's plan to create globally competitive small medium enterprises (SME's).
Caberte was in Dumaguete City to orient the council members on the relevant regulations and directions of the SME's in the whole country giving emphasis on the regional growth centers such as the Central Visayas.
DTI provincial director Javier Fortunato in the same gathering presented an SME Development Plan for Negros Oriental as a requisite in pursuit of economic growth and progress in the province.
The SME development plan focuses four priority industry sectors namely: education industry, information technology services, pasalubong, and organic, natural and herbal industry as part of the development strategies.
Director Fortunato emphasized that these prevalent industries in the province would create more jobs, entrepreneurs, products, exports and investments.
The province is now hosting more than ten call centers, business processing outsourcing and the like in the information technology which create 2,000 new jobs and 5 more IT companies to locate here soon.
While the education industry, Fortunato said that Dumaguete as one of the leading education tourism destinations in the Philippines has 30,000 plus students including several hundred foreign students.
