P15B credit fund to spur economic activity -- DTI
Cadena
The P15 billion credit fund earmarked by the Development Bank of the Philippines for the One-Town, One-Product or OTOP program of the Department of Trade and Industry will help stimulate local economic activity.
Director Diosdado Cadena of DTI-Iloilo said that the Arroyo government has intensified the implementation of OTOP through the said P15-Billion credit fund for this year, in its effort to promote entrepreneurship through the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSMEs) and create more jobs in the country.
The OTOP program, a priority project of President Arroyo, is a convergence of services where local executives take the lead in identifying, developing, and promoting a specific product of competitive advantage within their respective jurisdiction.
"DTI and DBP has signed a Memorandum of Agreement to help fast track the loan processing to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise in the country," Cadena said in a PIA interview.
He said that one of the constraints of MSMEs, is the access to funding, and it?s good that DBP responded to the OTOP program.
The DTI-Iloilo Director said that there are already existing, or identified OTOP in Iloilo province, but "we will still review the firms or establishments operating under OTOP."
"We will look into their competitive advantage, then endorse it to the DBP," Cadena said in the same PIA interview, who likewise emphasized that the OTOP program is a priority project of President Arroyo which is designed to create more jobs and added income for the people especially in the countryside.
(T.Villavert/PIA)