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By Jed Jaleco Del Rosario
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Monday, January 2, 2017
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ILOILO City – In a year-end press conference held on Dec. 29, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) revealed its priorities and goals for next year as well as the expected challenges along the way.
Presided by directors Rebecca Rascon and Diosdado Cadena Jr., the event was attended by local media stakeholders.
Rascon disclosed that one of their priorities is to improve several areas in the agricultural sector. She identified coffee, cacao, home wares and bamboo-based businesses as the most important areas for 2017, as they offer tremendous opportunities for growth.
She also added that projects, including Shared Service Facilities, Mentor Me Program and Project Kapatid, will also be improved and expanded next year to further support Iloilo’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
When asked about the challenges faced by Iloilo businesses next year, Rascon considers competitiveness as the most important issue. She thinks that local businesses need to be improved to make them more competitive in an integrated Asean market.
“The challenge for our investors is to level up,” she said.
Rascon said DTI will need to work with entrepreneurs and MSMEs to help them improve the competitiveness of their products and services, so as to sustain the province’s economic growth.
Aside from the challenges and projects for next year, the DTI directors also broached the topic of manufacturing.
Cadena said heavy manufacturing remains unfeasible for Iloilo due to energy and water costs.
However, he added that light manufacturing businesses are possible for the province, especially when these manufacturing businesses are linked with the agricultural sector to create “value producing processes.”
He mentioned packaging and branding as possible examples of light manufacturing that could exist here in the province. At this point, however, Cadena said the province is still in the process of research and preparation./PN
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