CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga (PIA) — Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) established a total of 310 Shared Service Facilities (SSF) in Central Luzon.
DTI Region 3 Small and Medium Enterprise Development Division Chief Warren Serrano explained that the SSF is a program geared to provide solutions to the scarcity of available modern machinery among micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and cooperatives in the region
“Among the things that we give under the SSF program include the provision of modern technologies and solutions. We also provide training and other capacity building activities so that our MSMEs will learn better ways in producing their products,” he said during the Central Luzon SSF Stakeholders’ Summit.
The SSF projects found across the region have a total cost of P170.86 million, which benefitted 17,307 existing and potential MSMEs, and created 60,388 jobs.
About 40 of these projects are in the province of Aurora; 34 in Bataan; 36 in Bulacan; 57 in Nueva Ecija; 67 in Pampanga; 31 in Tarlac; 44 in Zambales; and one at the Regional Office.
In addition, Serrano shared that through the SSF program, MSMEs have developed their products and are now worthy to be showcased in regional, national, and even international trade fairs.
“Some of the furniture shops that we have aided are now exporting their products and are being seen in different parts of the world. Those that we helped have increased incomes, generated employment, and profited not only here in the country but also abroad,” he added.
He pledged that DTI will continue to improve the program by looking for other interventions to be able to help and capacitate more business owners in the region.
With this, Serrano invited MSMEs to use the SSFs in the region.
“You can use these by going in the cooperatives with SSF and they could share these to you. It is not for free and there is a minimal payment but this will help you to improve your production by making your processes more efficient,” he stated.
He reminded that each SSF is under a shared system and is not given to one MSME only. It can be used by cooperatives, associations, local government units, and even academic institutions. (MJSC/JLDC-PIA 3)
