DTI welcomes Go Negosyo Act approval

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) welcomes the approval into law of the Go Negosyo Act which would help promote the growth of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) in the country.

According to the DTI, the approval of Republic Act 10644: An Act Promoting Job Generation and Inclusive Growth through the Development of MSMEs or the “Go Negosyo Act,” authored by Sen. Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, is expected to bring government services closer to small businesses through the establishment of Negosyo Centers in all provinces, cities, and municipalities.

“With the Go Negosyo Act, the DTI, with the support of LGUs (local government units) and other government agencies, expects to further boost its assistance to MSMEs to grow and flourish, and intensify the promotion of entrepreneurship in the country,” the DTI said.

The Go Negosyo Act was signed into law by President Aquino on July 15.

Under the law, the Go Negosyo Centers to be established would be under the DTI.

The Go Negosyo Centers would facilitate doing business and access to services for MSMEs.

The Go Negosyo Centers would be linked to the Philippine Business Registry System (PBRS) to make it easier and faster for entrepreneurs to start and register their businesses at the local level.

The PBRS is a government project that integrates the services of all agencies involved in business registration, such as the

DTI, Securities and Exchange Commission, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Social Security System, Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG), Philippine Health Insurance Corp., and other permit and license-issuing agencies.

Aside from making business registration easier, the Go Negosyo Centers would allow MSMEs to avail of other services such as technology transfer, production and management training programs as well as marketing assistance from the DTI, Department of Science and Technology, University of the Philippines – Institute for Small-Scale Industries, Cooperative Development Authority, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and other agencies concerned.

MSMEs currently account for more than 99 percent of all establishments in the country.

These businesses provide 66 percent of the total employment in the private sector.