Wednesday, July 30, 2008 Nernac-CL serves as one-stop business processing center
ANGELES CITY -- The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) announced that representatives of the different government agencies involved in business registration and licensing are now housed at the National Economic Research and Business Assistance Center (Nerbac)-Central Luzon (CL).
Nerbac-CL, an office that was formally launched last January 31, aims to provide prospective investors with the basic information on the various business options and serves as a one-stop action center for the facilitation of permits and licenses for the establishment of a business enterprise.
Nerbac has three major functions: investment promotions and facilitation; databank and knowledge management; and business registration and licensing.
It is located at the ground floor of Angeles Business Center at Nepo Mart Complex in this city.
DTI Regional Director Blesila Lantayona said Nerbac-CL now offers services of the local government units (LGUs) of Angeles City and City of San Fernando in Pampanga, the regional offices of DTI, Clark Development Authority (CDA), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Social Security System (SSS), Pag-ibig, Philhealth, and the seven provincial governments as represented by the Central Luzon Growth Corridor Foundation president and Aurora Governor Bellaflor Angara-Castillo.
Lantayona said Nerbac is supported by a website (www.nerbac-centraluzon.com) that promotes Central Luzon and its provinces as investment destinations, with added features on the steps and requirements in business registration.
The DTI regional office has set up an Internet Access Corner that allows investors to enjoy not only personal assistance from Nerbac staff but also the center's free Internet facilities for business-related needs, Lantayona added.
"Very soon, its virtual inter-agency network, through the web-based portal of the Philippine Business Registry (PBR), will enable the online application of business permits to various agencies," Lantayona said.
He said while waiting for the PBR to be fully-functional, its business registration function initially focused on DTI business name registration until June 30, 2008, which now boasts of a turnaround time of six minutes.
Since the start of July, Nerbac-CL already offered the physical services agencies like the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Home Development Mutual Fund, and Angeles City Government within the Center every Monday-Wednesday and Friday, to guide the businessman of the steps and requirements for the permits and licenses.
This was necessary, Lantayona said, to establish the inter-agency services of Nerbac while waiting for the "virtual registration and licensing" service.
Meanwhile, SSS and Philhealth are also located just within and across the DTI regional office, respectively. The Philippine Retirement Authority also assists foreign retirees from Monday to Wednesday.
In the meantime, Lantayona said Nerbac-CL and the PBR Project Management Office continue to conduct one-on-one orientation and technical assessment of qualifying LGUs for their connection to the PBR. Angeles City and the City of San Fernando are configuring their servers to fit the requirements of the PBR.
She added that Nerbac-CL Satellite Office for Business Registration and Licensing was also established at the DTI provincial office in the City of San Fernando in June this year.
Nerbac Central Luzon invites businessmen to visit their office for their business-related needs.
