By Alma L. Tingcang
IPIL, Zamboanga Sibugay - To convene all
partners, cooperators, and beneficiaries of the Shared Service
Facilities (SSF) projects, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) hosted
the 1st Regional SSF Summit at Roderic’s Resort yesterday, July 26.
Gov.
Wilter Y. Palma, ably represented by Board Member Eufemio Javier Jr. welcomed
the participants to this beautiful town which was timed with its 67thAraw
ng Ipil celebration.
BM
Javier expressed his gratefulness to DTI for holding the summit in Ipil and for
the SSF projects poured into the province which have greatly benefitted
Sibugaynons.
The
summit’s theme, “Breaking Barriers, Celebrating Success, Sustaining Gains” aptly
defines the breakthrough in the implementation of the SSF projects in Region 9.
It
was also a venue to present the best practices of the SSF beneficiaries which
propelled the successful achievement of its objectives as well as to create a
networking of business opportunities.
RD
Sitti Amina M. Jain who introduced the keynote speaker, Assistant Secretary
BlesilaA.Lantayona also acknowledged the presence of national government
agencies, cooperators, beneficiaries, representatives from the LGUs and other participants.
“I
am very happy that Region 9 is the 3rd in the entire country to host
the SSF summit. The first is Region 3, followed by Region 4A. This is also a
very significant venue because this was once a conflict-ridden area. Now I have
seen that it has become very, very progressive particularly the capital town
which is Ipil,” AsecLantayona remarked.
She
mentioned that during the first year of SSF implementation, it was very slow
paced. Several problems were encountered and the need for convergence efforts
of other national government agencies was immediate. Thus, the program called
for partnership with the private sector, academe and industry associations for
it to take-off smoothly.
To
date, there are already 2015 SSFs in the country where DTI has allocated a
budget of P1.018 billion.
Lantayona
challenged the beneficiaries to come up with a winner for Best SSF Video and Best SSF Project in October, this year in time for
the 2nd National SSF Summit which will be held in Davao or Caraga.
Highlighting
the summit was the awarding of the Top 3 Best SSF, among the 125 SSFs in the
region. Based on the criteria set by DTI, bagging the first was KASAMMAKA of
Tigbao, Zamboanga del Sur – organic fertilizer processing; BABAMI of Sibuco,
Zamboanga del Norte – abaca fiber and products - second; and LAPMCO of
Kabasalan, Zamboanga Sibugay – abaca fiber and products came third.
DTI called on cooperators
and beneficiaries to sustain the gains of the SSF to uplift the economic
condition in the countryside.