Tagum City, Davao del Norte -The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) provincial office here has continued to engage various local stakeholders in the implementation of its programs, projects, and activities.
The office has been active in consumer education and business development initiatives throughout the province even during the pandemic. These are all geared towards providing the much-needed services to its clients.
DTI-Davao del Norte Provincial Director Romeo L. Castañaga said that his office recognizes the fact that the involvement of stakeholders is crucial when implementing initiatives.
“This is the very reason why we always get out and meet with them. We need to reach out to let them know what we have in store for them. However, with the health crisis, we need to make sure that we strictly follow the minimum public health standards every time we have a consultation with the business sector and the consuming public,” he said.
To promote and boost the local economy further, the Provincial Government of Davao del Norte, partner agencies, and other stakeholders have continued to strengthen the annual conduct of the Business One-Stop-Shop (BOSS) implementation in its 11 local government units (LGUs), which include the three cities and eight municipalities, from January to February this year.
The BOSS is a mandated inter-agency collaboration in each LGU. It is aimed at simplifying the process of registering a business and reporting employees to government social service agencies under the Ease of Doing Business Act of 2018, which the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) leads.
“The province of Davao del Norte has been implementing this program every year, giving appropriate information and services via one stop shop facility to guarantee that business owners will enjoy convenience and speedy completion of their documents. We want to seek and enact improvements in government systems and procedures to increase our efficiency, transparency, and accountability; that’s why we’re doing this consistently. As a result, BOSS helps the province achieve its goal of promoting economic growth and development,” the provincial trade official shared.
During the implementation of BOSS 2022, DTI-Davao del Norte convened the representatives of civil society organizations (CSOs). Dubbed as the CSO Consultation and Partners’ Forum, the activity served as the avenue to gather valuable inputs from them. On January 12, it was conducted using a hybrid setup of Zoom teleconferencing and face-to-face meetings with the selected LGUs province-wide.
“The purpose of the consultation was to involve the civil society, such as the non-government organizations or NGOs, academe, business groups and other private and business sector partners in assessing the effectivity of our programs and services for the past year. At the same time, get recommendations from them relative to the initiatives and projects that we’ll have in 2022,” Castañaga said, adding that with the one-day convergence, they were able to evaluate the acquired data through stakeholder analysis. As a result, it helps in improving the agency’s planning and implementation activities.
These inputs and suggestions are then assessed if they are aligned with DTI’s mandate and how they can be integrated into their regular functions.
The provincial director further noted that the strong ties and harmonious relationship they have built with their partners through the years have been a great help.
”The micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and other stakeholders have become more resilient and empowered as a result of this cooperation, especially with the diverse mix of institutional partners who truly support DTI’s programs and services incessantly,” Castañaga concluded.
In 2021, DTI-Davao del Norte assisted a total of 5,509 MSMEs through trainings, product development, business consultancy, provision of business starter kits, marketing assistance, and other services. ♦
Date of Release: 03 February 2022