LGUs, agencies forge alliance for MSMEs

To prevent redundancy in program implementation and funding, various government agencies and national departments have forged alliances with local government units for the development of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the countryside.

The alliance, dubbed Project Grace (short for Generating Resources of Agencies for Community Enterprise), will initially be implemented in Region 4B or Mimaropa (Occidental and Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan), before it is replicated in other regions.

Under Project Grace, the departments of Agriculture, Labor and Employment, Science and Technology, and Trade and Industry, along with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, have gotten in touch with the local governments of Region 4B to identify priority projects that will be given various forms of assistance.

Aid to be extended to MSMEs in Region 4B include skills training, technology transfer, financial assistance, product development, marketing and consultancy.

“Having the concerned agencies and LGUs unified, the collaboration will serve as an innovation in facilitating trade and generating businesses, particularly in the countryside,” Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo said in a statement Monday.

Domingo explained that MSME development was a priority program of the Aquino administration.

Domingo said various government agencies found that some assistance extended to MSMEs were being duplicated, leading to higher costs and lower competitiveness. Concerned regional directors decided to meet early this month and hammered out what came to be known as Project Grace.

“The action plans, if successfully implemented, will generate 90,000 jobs in the region and bring in P43.6 million in investments,” Trade Undersecretary Merly Cruz said.—Abigail L. Ho