Zamboanga City—DTI Region 9 OIC-Regional Director Ceferino J. Rubio disclosed early this week that the region’s 55 Negosyo Centers (NCs) have been offering free online trainings since the implementation of community quarantine in the provinces of Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay and the cities of Zamboanga City and Isabela City. These trainings are being offered to all interested online participants (existing MSMEs, would-be MSMEs, OSYs, OFWs, PWDs, women, among others). This comes as the agency’s initiative in response to the restricted mass gathering (conduct of face to face training) while community quarantine is still in effect throughout Zamboanga Peninsula.
Rubio added that these free Online Trainings, which can be accessed through facebook, zoom and webinar, include Entrepreneurial Trainings (Developing Entrepreneurial Mindset, Entrepreneurial Values, Business Registration Procedures), Managerial Skills Trainings (Leadership Training, Effective Communication Skills), Productivity Trainings (5S) and other entrepreneurial related trainings. Schedules vary as these would depend on the availability of the interested pre-registered participants. Other trainings can also be offered upon request. Other online trainings are also conducted in convergence with DTI E-Commerce, Go Negosyo, and OTOP Philippines.
Rubio stressed that conduct of these trainings will hopefully fill the gap that the MSMEs are now facing with its limited operations due to COVID-19 pandemic. With the ongoing quarantines, industries are classified into four categories that specifies which industries are allowed to operate. Most of these fall under conventional MSMEs that operate through face-to-face transaction which is now being reduced by quarantine restrictions. With this, the need to integrate digitalization (e-commerce) in the operations would be a big boost for them to cope with the current changes.
Rubio further said that these free online trainings are run by the Business Counsellors of each of the established negosyo centers. These counsellors have undertaken a series of small business counselling courses being provided by the University of the Philippines-Institute of Small Scale Industries (ISSI). These courses include Entrepreneurial Assessment, Marketing Management, Financial Management, Operations Management & Investment Management. They are deployed in the various negosyo centers carrying out the major NC programs and services: Business Registration Assistance (BRA), Business Information and Advocacy (BIA) and Business Advisory Services (BAS).
ARD Al-Zamir I. Lipae also encourages everyone to like and follow the facebook page of the nearest Negosyo Center in their area where they can check for the training details. To date, there are already fifty-five (55) established negosyo centers in Zamboanga Peninsula: 5 in Zamboanga City, and 17 in Zamboanga del Norte, 18 in Zamboanga del Sur and 15 in Zamboanga Sibugay. Availment to these online trainings may open up opportunities for the MSMEs to avail of these agency’s programs and projects for them to scale up: Kapatid Mentor Me Program (KMME), Livelihood Seeding Program – Negosyo Serbisyo sa Barangay (LSP-NSB), Pangkabuhayan sa Pagbangon at Ginhawa (PBG), OTOP Next Gen (ONG), Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asenso (P3) Enterprise Rehabilitation Fund (ERF), and Shared Service Facility (SSF).♦
Date of Release: 11 June 2020