BANNAWAG, SANTIAGO CITY — The Department of Trade and Industry Region 2 officially signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the City Government of Santiago for the operationalization of the Santiago City Food Processing and Toll Packaging Center on March 3, 2023, at Barangay Bannawag, Santiago City.
The MOA was signed by DTI R2 Director Leah Pulido Ocampo, Santiago City Mayor Atty. Alyssa Sheena P. Tan, together with Isabela 4th District Representative Hon. Joseph S. Tan, DTI Isabela Provincial Director Ma. Sofia G. Narag, and Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry – Southern Isabela Chapter President Mr. Markson Tan.
The signing was brought about by the establishment of the center as a primary processing center for MSMEs not only in Santiago City but in the whole of Region 2 and neighboring towns to process their products in a shared system through DTI’s Shared Service Facility Program.
DTI awarded a total of Php 3.9 million of equipment which included a blast freezer, a dehydrator, a jacketed kettle, a bottle filling machine, and a mango fruit pulping machine.
In his message, former city mayor and now Hon. Rep. Joseph S. Tan extended his thanks for DTI’s commitment to the project which began during his last term as city mayor. He further underlined the importance of the project to MSMEs to add value to their fresh produce through processing and proper packaging fit for both domestic and international trade.
RD Ocampo then reciprocated this gratitude to the City Government for its support of DTI’s initiatives, particularly in boosting the MSME sector in the region by prioritizing industry development programs such as the establishment of the center.
She also pledged to roll out DTI Region 2’s Food Development Program to the center and its processors to both improve the center to be at par with local and international standards and also level up the production quantity and quality of its processors.
City Mayor Atty. Sheena P. Tan also expressed her full support for fully adopting DTI’s FDP initiative and pledged her support as well towards making the center a primary processing hub in the region.
PCCI President Mr. Markson Tan and DTI Isabela Provincial Director Ma. Sofia G. Narag both shared messages of support and also highlighted that the event will empower more MSMEs, especially those that are women-led, in time for the celebration of the 2023 Women’s Month.
Simultaneously, the DTI, through its Santiago City Satellite Office, spearheaded a training on mushroom processing earlier that day, using the newly installed equipment at the center, which was attended by over 40 participants, where they learned about processing mushrooms into spring rolls, siomai, patties, and more.
These events are a milestone both for the DTI and Santiago City as they continue to collaborate toward boosting the processing capabilities of MSMEs throughout the region. DTI aims to bring about a series of capacity-building activities in the coming months to further upskill the processor-MSMEs of the center. *
Date of release: 06 March 2023
