FOR assisting more than 30,000 micro and small enterprises in 2017, the Cebu City Negosyo Center earned the top spot in the Department of Trade and Industry’s Top 50 Negosyo Centers list in the Philippines.
The Negosyo Center in Cebu City has facilitated business-related concerns of the 32,428 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) last year.
After Cebu City, Makati City landed the second spot with 23,592 MSMEs assisted, followed by Pasay City (15,659 MSMEs), General Santos City (13,731 MSMEs) and Trece Martirez (13,239 MSMEs).
“The Negosyo Center-Cebu City is one big full-service Negosyo Center that caters to all business-related concerns of existing and aspiring entrepreneurs. It captures clients from all walks of life,” said DTI-Cebu Director Ma. Elena Arbon, in an interview yesterday.
Arbon said the MSMEs assisted last year covered the 15,523 MSMEs who sought business assistance from them and the more than 17,000 business name registrations recorded last year.
Market access, market funding, market intelligence and technology were are among the common inquiries received by the Negosyo Center counselors in Cebu City.
“Because we had huge funding last year, we were able to reach out to many MSMEs in the province,” said Arbon. “We will continue to exert the same effort for this year.” DTI-Cebu opened 12 Negosyo Centers last year, spread across the province—Moalboal, Balamban, Medellin, Tabuelan, Tabogon, Sogod, Borbon, Poro, Tudela, Pilar, Bantayan and Madridejos.
The agency aims to open at least four more Negosyo Centers this year.
DTI Cebu closed 2017 with 23 Negosyo Centers. By the end of this year, the province will have 27 Negosyo Centers.
A total of 614,417 entrepreneurs nationwide have been assisted by the Negosyo Centers last year since the inception of Negosyo Centers in 2014.
DTI Regional Operations Group Undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya stressed that the huge surge of entrepreneurs assisted was due to the government’s support for MSMEs and the advancing of MSMEs as economic movers of the country.
“2017 has been the year for Filipino MSMEs as the country hosted the Asean Summmit. With the Asean (Summit), MSMEs were given the much needed attention in order to advance the country’s economic agenda,” Maglaya said in a statement.