by admin | Jul 28, 2017 | DTI Updates
The Philippine National Trade Repository (PNTR) which is a web-based portal that provides a single source of comprehensive, accurate and updated trade information will finally be launched on August 1, 2017. Its establishment is an important component of the government’s trade facilitation strategy. A more transparent trade environment will allow business easier access to information and facilitate their compliance with prescribed regulations. The ultimate effect will be to reduce the amount of time and costs in trade transactions.
The launching will be participated in by the Trade Regulatory Government Agencies (TRGAs), representatives from the private sector and selected importers accredited by the Department of Agriculture.
Expected to grace the event are the EXCOM Members of the Department of Trade and Industry, headed by the Undersecretary of the Industry Development and Trade Policy Group, Dr. Ceferino S. Rodolfo who will provide the keynote speech on behalf of DTI Secretary Ramon M. Lopez.
Dr. Cielito F. Habito, Chief of Party of the USAID- Trade Project is among the guest speakers, together with Mr. Walter Van Hattum, Head of Economic and Trade Section, EU Delegation to the Philippines.
One of the highlights of the event is the MOA signing between the Tariff Commission and the Department of Trade and Industry- Bureau of Import Services. The PNTR’s seamless commodity search function became possible because of the wholehearted cooperation of Chairperson Marilou P. Mendoza of the Tariff Commission. The first three elements of the PNTR, the Tariff Nomenclature, the MFN tariffs and the Rules of Origin are linked to the Enhanced Philippine Tariff Finder (EPTF) of the Tariff Commission.
The formal launching of the PNTR portal will be presented by Mr. Roberto Galang of the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank’s private sector arm. Through support from the Government of Canada, the project team led by Mr. Terence Chapman provided significant enhancements to the portal, in particular on the element of the Non-Tariff Measures and commodity search function.
Atty. Luis M. Catibayan, the PNTR Secretariat Head enjoins everyone to visit the PNTR portal at www.pntr.gov.ph. The PNTR is expected to benefit our stakeholders primarily Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) as the regulations and procedures administered and enforced by various government agencies are made readily accessible thru the internet.
Atty. Catibayan further stressed that the PNTR makes the regulations transparent and contributes to the ease of doing business. The PNTR’s link to the ASEAN Trade Repository will allow MSMEs who are into exports to have accurate and updated information, including regulatory requirements for the movement of goods to and among ASEAN member states, thereby facilitating greater access to the ASEAN market.
For inquiries about the PNTR portal, please send email at info@pntr.gov.ph or visit: www.pntr.gov.ph/ www.dti.gov.ph.
by admin | Jul 25, 2017 | Negosyo Center Updates
TAGBILARAN CITY, July 25, (PIA)–Next to Tacloban, Bohol hosts the country’s second launching of the agriculture sector entrepreneur mentoring program for region 7.
Through the Kapatid Agri Mentor Me Program (KAMMP), struggling Central Visayan farmer entrepreneurs can now be hand held and mentored by big brothers who have been nailing success in their fields of endeavor, explained Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship (PCE) and Go Negosyo team leader Jas Nito.
KAMMP is a network of mentors intending to help in the development of small farmers by capacitating them prepare for their business plans and allow them to set up marketing linkages, funding assistance and other technical help.
During the KAMMP program launching at the Bohol Tropics Resort in Tagbilaran, a total of 30 agricultural entrepreneurs form Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental and Siquijor sailed to Tagbilaran to the posh resort here where the first free business seminar and counseling of the mentoring program sessions happen, July 24.
15 of these hopeful agri-entrepreneurs would comprise batch 1 of the 3-day mentoring activities, while the next batch of 15 comprises batch 2, which would still be mentored in Bohol, accoridng to DA 7 sources.
Bohol Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) Regional Training Center Manager Dr. Carolyn May Daquio, Governor Edgar Chatto’s representative and Liza Quirog, PCE officials and Department of Agriculture Regional Officials unrolled the program tarpaulin to mark the beginning of the mentoring sessions.
These sessions would end after the agri-entrepreneurs now called mentees complete the modules designed to empower them to be successful in their agri business fields.
PCE and Go Negosyo’s Jas Nito said many farmers would be willing to upscale but they lack the confidence to do it.
The KAMMP would be a good start, he hinted as the mentoring program offers free inputs by respected industry leaders in entrepreneurial mind setting, marketing, business accounting, farming operations and value chain, financial obligations and business planning.
The KAMMP has set two September and October for the mentoring of the two batches and program organizers expect the mentees to pass their business plans by then to graduate in the program.
As this happened, the Department of Trade and industry in Bohol along with the PCE and Go Negosyo has also successfully completed the KMMP for micro, small, and medium enterprises mentoring modules in Bohol.
During the graduation rites set last July 21, DTI Butreau of Smell and medium Enterprise Development Director Jerry Clavesillas accepted the graduates in red carpet ceremony in time for the Sandugo regional product showcase held at the Island city mall in Bohol.
The DTI KMMP is the region’s third mentoring activity and the first in Bohol.
DTI regional Director Asteria Caberte however has ordered Bohol DTI to secure funds for the immediate conduct of another batch of mentoring activities in Bohol considering the number of MSMEs now identified.
Bohol has recently put up nine Go Negosyo Centers in Bohol: the DTI Office, Bohol Go Negosyo at the BIPC, Loon, Loboc, Talibon, Ubay, Carmen, Jagna and Tubigon.
These offices help MSMEs in their business plans and recommends these MSMEs for the free mentoring program to help them prepare for the ASEAN integration. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)
Department of Agriculture, Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship and the Agricultural Training Institute opens to Boholanos and the Visayans in general a venue for thjem to be mentored to be successful agri entrepreneurs and the government brings in a free agri-entrepreneurship seminar here. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)
by admin | Jul 25, 2017 | DTI Updates
TAGBILARAN CITY, July 25, (PIA)–Times when wealth of materials that the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has in its disposal and left buried in a drawer somewhere would be gone soon.
Seeing that there is so much information that could help Boholanos come up with smarter decisions, PSA Provincial statistician Jessamyne Anne Alcazaren has invited the Philippine Information Agency in Bohol to help them come up with solutions to make these research materials accessible to the community.
There, the PIA in Bohol conducted its basic news writing workshop for all the employees and on the job trainees of the PSA, July 24.
The workshop, held inside the PSA office Monday had employees submitting drafts which the whole team also edited and corrected to be a mock press release.
The writeshop also delved on the treasure trove of data which the PSA in Bohol keeps but has hardly been exposed.
The PSA has been as mandated, primarily responsible for all national censuses and surveys, sectoral statistics, the consolidation of selected administrative recording systems and compilations of national accounts.
An agency that functions as the central authority in government primary data collection, the office in Bohol deploys enumerators and researchers for the conduct of periodic censuses, according to the PSA website.
These include data on population, housing, agriculture, fisheries, business and industry.
They also collect and compiles data for analysis to come up with statistical information relating to economics, social, demographic and general condition of the people in communities.
But most of the data collected here only gets submitted to Manila and is seldom presented to the people.
These surveys also make the data on the various aspects of socio economic life including agriculture, industry, trade, finance, prices and marketing information.
PSA enumerators gather the base data for incomes and expenditures, education, health care, culture and social situations for government planners and the public in general.
With the PSA empowered to release these data through press digestible materials, it might not be long when these can better be used by people in making better and well informed decisions. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)
Helping make data and information accessible to the Filipinos, the PSA taps the PIA in its news writing workshop to empower researchers and census enumerators to translate their data into stories which people can easily understand. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)
by admin | Jul 25, 2017 | DTI Updates, National News
In its effort to increase trade and investment opportunities from various markets, the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), represented by the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC) in Toronto, is set to hold a breakfast forum dubbed as “Trade and Investment Opportunities in the Philippines” on 26 July at the Pinnacle Hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The forum is made possible with the support and cooperation of the Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver. Hon. Consul General Neil Frank Ferrer is expected to open the forum while Philippine Ambassador to Canada H.E. Petronila P. Garcia will serve as a keynote speaker. Special guests from various Canadian sectors led by Aquilini Renewable Energy Ltd. and Corinthian Distributors Ltd. will share their experience in doing business in the Philippines.
“The Philippines would like to see more investments from Canada given the vast potentials in manufacturing and services in the areas of IT-BPM, specifically game development and animation, agri-based industries, and aerospace”, according to Senior Trade Commissioner Maria Roseni Alvero. Alvero is also set to present trade and investment opportunities in the Philippines during the event.
“We also aim to double our exports to Canada particularly of food products and IT-BPM services in the next few years,” added Alvero.
The five-day trade and investment outreach to Western Canada aims to introduce the services of the recently opened DTI Office, also known as the Philippine Consulate General (Toronto) Trade Section. It opened its new location in Downtown Toronto last 1 July 2017. The office currently caters to all provinces and territories of Canada. Similar outreach programs are scheduled for the other regions in Canada.
by admin | Jul 23, 2017 | Local News / Bohol Balita
By JUNE S. BLANCO
IMPROVED ports may serve best the population today but these may be insufficient in the coming years.
Rep. Erico Aristotle Aumentado (Bohol, 2nd District) made this observation after noting that development is dynamic.
Seafaring vessels are becoming bigger, bringing in and out of ports bigger batches of passengers and cargoes each time, he noted.
Aumentado said while expansion and extension of the ports of Clarin, Buenavista and Getafe towns are in place with the P60 million savings in the 2015 budget of the then Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC), improvement must not stop there. The three ports had gotten P20 million each.
This early, he said, studies must already be made for the further development of these ports, specifically the establishment of roll on-roll off ramps and sturdy mooring facilities.
These facilities will enable bigger vessels to seek harbor or shelter should they be near these ports during storms or typhoons.
And while they are at it, the solon said the studies must include mooring facilities to accommodate power barges as well.
Aumentado is pushing for the development of local power sources. But, he pointed out, it will still be to Bohol’s advantage to be ready for power barges.
The gestation period for the more serious development of locally-generated power will be long, he admitted, hence the mooring facilities will be an advantage.
The Clarin, Getafe and Buenavista ports are also gateways to and from Bohol. The improvement expands the previously limited berthing areas that used to accommodate just one passenger banca at a time – leaving no more space for pump boats to dock.
The solon said he wanted to improve the gateways to make development come in.
He cited the case of Dubai that built alongside its international airport a hospital. Before long, he said, locators came in droves to set up businesses near the airport and the hospital because of the potentials for expansion.
As things are, he said, goods get to the people of Clarin, Getafe and Buenavista by shipments from Cebu to the ports of Ubay, Talibon or Tubigon – which are bigger – to be transferred by land.
The additional cost of the land trip increases the prices of these goods. The businessmen, however, merely pass on the increase to the consumers.
With the extended and widened ports, more goods at reasonable prices will be available in these and in neighboring towns. Fast crafts now at the Getafe port for regular daily trips from Cebu and back daily will soon also be familiar sights at the Clarin and Buenavista ports, Aumentado added.
