THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will open Thursday, September 14, the 11th Negosyo Center in Negros Occidental hosted by Himamaylan City.
The facility is lodged at the new Himamaylan City Hall in Barangay Talaban.
Lea Gonzales, provincial director of DTI-Negros Occidental, said Wednesday the center will mainly provide micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) training services especially on entrepreneurial skills development.
Gonzales said the DTI has yet to conduct profiling of businesses in all cities and municipalities in the province, which will be used in designing specific training program in every locality like Himamaylan.
“Most residents in Himamaylan are into fish processing thus, aside from the usual entrepreneurship trainings, the Negosyo Center will soon provide programs focusing on developing the city’s rich aquaculture sector,” she added.
Last August 10 and 22, respectively, the DTI-Negros Occidental opened two Negosyo Centers in cities of Sipalay and Bago.
In 2016, the eighth Negosyo Center in the province was unveiled in Hinigaran town. Others that opened last year are those in the cities of Bacolod, San Carlos, Victorias, and La Carlota.
The Negros First Negosyo Center at the Provincial Capitol Complex in Bacolod City was opened in 2015 along with those in the cities of Kabankalan and Sagay.
For this year, the DTI-Negros Occidental targets to open four more centers in the cities of Cadiz, Silay and Escalante, and municipality of La Castellana.
Like most of other centers, the City Government of Himamaylan also provided the area while the DTI took charge of the refurbishing, basic equipment, and training component.
The establishment of Negosyo Centers is provided under the Republic Act 10644, or the Go Negosyo Act.
It is mainly aimed at providing MSMEs the ease in doing business, and facilitates access to grants and other forms of financial assistance, and shared service facilities (SSF), among others.
The law also seeks to ensure management guidance, assistance and improvement of the working conditions of MSMEs, and facilitate market access and link aging services for entrepreneurs. (EPN)