By Digna D. Banzon
DAVAO CITY, March 28 (PNA) — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) here is looking at 52 projects under the Shared Service Facility (SSF) program with a P39 million budget allotted by the government this year.
DTI XI officer-in-charge Ma. Belenda Q. Ambi said the SSF is a strategic complementary project that intends to balance off existing efforts and programs to achieve inclusive growth as envisioned by the current administration.
The undertaking entails the setting up of common service facilities or productive centers for certain processes to give the Medium and Small Medium Entrepreneurs (MSMEs) access to better technology and more sophisticated equipment to accelerate their bid for competitiveness and hold them graduate to a next level where they could tap a better and wider market and be integrated to the global supply chain.
Ambi said the current SSF funding is an additional fund to last year’s allocation where some P10 million funded several projects that were proposed by various small and medium entrepreneurs in the region.
She explained that there are facilities that have still to be established this year because the procurement was done only in December 2013.
Among the projects that were launched and established in 2013 were heavy duty sewing machine for Bayong Project, acquisition facilities for coco coir and coco twine processing, expansion of existing cacao beans fermentation, Cocolife virgin coconut oil production upgrading, NICO sugar processing, expansion of kakanin production facility, and Cocolife beads production enhancement.
Other projects include the jewelry center production, enhancement of organic fertilizer production, packaging equipment for processed fruits and juices, Davao Oriental food processing, Padada shellcraft enhancement production, coco vinegar, food facilities of PPAD, enhanced banana powder processing, abaca fiber processing, muscovado sugar processing, coco twining and weaving, garments making, seaweeds dryer facility, and enhancement to vacuum sealing facility for organic rice.
Ambi explained that the facilities and equipment are placed in a common area where members of the community/association in that particular place could use the facilities.
This early, she said nine projects are ready to be launched and established for this year’s allocation.
Ambi said these facilities will be monitored even as she said that approval of the projects is based on the proposals submitted.
She also said that the projects will be implemented with the cooperation of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the academe, the local government units and private organizations. (PNA)