ALBAY FISH POND OWNERS CONDUCT TECHNO-APPRECIATION TOUR TO PANGASIUS FARMS IN CAMARINES SUR

The Regional Investment Forum on Pangasius conducted last March 22, 2011 in Legazpi City ignited the interest of local fish pond operators to consider Pangasius as an alternative to their existing tilapia stocks. This fish specie is known locally as “hammerhead” and was previously sold in local pet shops as ornamental or aquarium fish before its potential big demand in the market both local and foreign specially from upscale restaurants and hotels was recognized. Filleted Pangasius fish is served in several exotic names such as Cobbler fish, cream dowry fish, basa fish and others.

Because of these business opportunities in the Pangasius business, local fish pond owners and businessmen have shown interest to invest into it, thus, to further deepen their knowledge and know-how about the industry and the product itself considering that it’s relatively new and they have never seen it before,the Technology-Appreciation Tour to selected fish farms in Camarines Sur was conducted last June 28, 2011. It was participated in by 18 local fish pond operators and would-be investors.

During the tour, the group made a short courtesy call to DTI-Camrines Sur Provincial Office and was warmly welcomed by Provincial Director Edna Tejada wherein a short industry briefing was also given. Afterwards they proceeded to the Galicia Farm in San Fernando, Camarines Sur and then later at the A & L Hatchery Farm in Camaligan. In these two farms, the group was practically amazed on the business potentials of Pangasius as a new fish variety because of its relatively lower maintenance and production costs as compared with other freshwater fishes.

The group also visited the Regioal Freshwater Fisheries Center in Bula, Camarines Sur. RFFC officials toured the group to the new processing (canning) facility of the center which will serve as a common service facility.

As a result of the tour, the participants were exposed to the actual operations and maintenance of a Pangasius farm and somehow aroused their interest to engage in Pangasius farming. They purchased fingerlings for sample growing in their respective ponds. However, the participants were also apprised on some issues and concerns confronting the industry and these include: 1. ready and sustainable market for their produce as there are only two existing local consolidators and market is still Manila. There are no local processors yet; 2. Issue on the Environment Impact Assessment as claimed by the RFFC Manager which means until todate, no EIA has been conducted to determine the impact of Pangasius culture to the local environment, and 3. Use of chlorine (by some processors from other parts of the country) in preserving the meat of Pangasius to make the color whiter that puts the entire industry at an unfavorable situation in the international market.

178 DISPLACED OFWs BENEFIT FROM DTI ENTREP DEVELOPMENT TRAINING AND BUSINESS CONSULTANCY SERVICES

As part of the Department of Trade and Industry's commitment and assistance to Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who are either displaced, repatriated and with finished contract and will stay for good in the Philippines, the office acceded to the request of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) -Regional Office No. V to partner with them by providing entrepreneurship development training and business consultancy services to the sector.

This initiative is part of OWWA's Enterprise Development Training (EDT)project under the Reintegration Program for OFWs. Aside from attending Entrepreneurship Orientation, the trainees are required to prepare Simple Business Plans to avail of the P 10,000.00 grant under the National Reintegration Center for OFWs Fund for livelihood projects. Likewise, for OFWs or group of OFWs who need bigger capitalization ranging from P 300,000.00 up to P 2,000,000.00, they are required to prepare a more detailed business plan for submission to the Landbank of the Philippines who manages the P 2 billion Reintegration Program for OFW Fund.

In the preparation of business plans by OFWs,the DTI takes a major critical role as it is given the prime responsibility to assess and evaluate the feasbility and viability of the projects and recommend the same for funding.

Since the DTI-OWWA partnership started last May, 2011 up to this writing (July), the DTI already facilitated three training sessions attended by a total of 178 OFW-participants, evaluated and recommended 83 business plans with total grant/loan applications amounting to P 10,027,947.00. Majority of the proposals are on agribusiness, allied services, food and non-food processing and trading.

It is worthwhile to mention that less than three months after the DTI intervention, some of the OFW-beneficiaries already started their formal business operations. They already complied with the mandatory business requirements such as DTI Business Name Registration, BIR and Mayor's Permit. Noteworthy to mention are two repatriated OFWs affected by the recent conflicts in Libya and they are Jesus Pedido Lustre III of Ligao City who registered his Lustre's Welding and Repair Shop and Alexander Guban Fresnido also of Ligao City who registred his Alesig Hollow Bloacka Factory and Gravel and Sand. As the DTI assistance continuous, more new entrepreneurs are expected to be developed and therefore more economic activities for the province.

DTI CONDUCTS CUSTOMER RELATIONS MANAGEMENT SEMINAR TO PACIFIC MALL TENANTS

The Department of Trade and Industry-Albay Provincial Office has conducted a Seminar on Customer Relations Management (CRM)initially to 125 of the 220 tenants of the Pacific Mall - Legazpi last March 31, 2011 at the Convention Area of the said Mall. The said seminar was requested by the Mall Management in line with their objective of developing the skills of their tenants in dealing with their respective customers.

Given the positive response and enthusiasm of the tenant-participants, the Mall Management deemed it appropriate to conduct the same to the remaining tenants and also for the Management's own staff.

The Seminar was facilitated by the blog owner.

TRAINING ON WIG MAKING

The Department of Trade and Industry-Albay Provincial Office, through its Livelihood and Entrepreneurship Assistance Program (LEAP) in partnership with the Department of Education-Albay Division under its Alternative Learning System (ALS) program and the Bicol Wig Cooperative, conducted a skills training on Wig Making starting last March 18, 2011 and every Friday thereafter until the trainees are able to learn the technology and acquired the required skills. The training is being held at the Activity Hall of Gabaldon Bldg., Baligang Elementary School, Baligang, Camalig, Albay.

A total of 53 Out of School Youths and women from Barangays Baligang, Bantonan, Gotob and Ilawod, all of Camalig participated in the training. No less than the President of Bicol Wig, Ms Diane Fabros served as resource person and was duly assisted by two line supervisors cum trainers from Bicol Wig, Ms. Alma Belardo and Ms. Regie Esplana.


After the trainees have completely acquired the skills and have passed the quality control tests being conducted every session, they will be issued initial job orders for take home in consideration of the distance of the area from the company's main production site cum office in Tagas, Daraga, Albay. Should there be enough trained skilled wig makers developed in the area, part of the long-term plan of the Cooperative is to establish a satellite production station there.

FREE SEMINAR ON "PANGASIUS"

The Department of Trade and Industry Region V is inviting all interested entrepreneurs and investors to attend a one-day "INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY SEMINAR ON PANGASIUS" on March 22, 2011 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Concourse Convention Center, Legazpi City. Registration is FREE.

The activity aims to provide local entrepreneurs and investors a new business opportunity in the freshwater fish industry given the increasing demand for this white meat fish called Pangasius (dowry fish) both in the domestic and foreign markets.

A number of industry experts and private companies are invited to share their experiences and expertise on the culture and market of Pangasius.

For your seat reservation (we can accommodate only up to 60 pax) and further inquiries, kindly call us at telephone numbers 052 435-0337, 480-6834, telefax 920-6830 on or before March 16, 2011.

SUNWEST GROUP OF COMPANIES STAFF ATTEND NEW BUSINESS CREATION COURSE

Fifteen staff from two affiliate companies of the Sunwest Group namely: Tektone Global Technologies and Sunwest Resources and Aggregates participate in the five-day New Business Creation Course workshop that started last February 21, 2011. The workshop is being facilitated by trainers from the Department of Trade and Industry-Albay Provincial Office upon the invitation and request of Tektone Global. The workshop was primarily intended for the trainees of Tektone to encourage them to engage in business after finishing their short-term courses, however, it was decided that the faculty and other staff of the two companies will attend instead and cascade the learning and skills they acquire to their trainees later on. After the five-day workshop, the participants are expected to prepare a Simple Business Plan for presentation to a panel of evaluators.

Albay OTOP Declaration

Albay OTOP DECLARATION

We, the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Support Agencies and Institutions and Partner Organizations of the One Town One Product (OTOP) Program, hereby adhere and commit to the following DECLARATIONS:

1. We shall be responsible stewards and users of our natural resources by optimizing the value and utilization of indigenous raw materials. We shall endeavor to minimize wastes and avoid degradation of the environment;

2. We shall employ internal mechanisms within our factories and offices to counter the effects of climate change to our employees, properties and our businesses;

3. We shall ensure that employee-employer relationships are well defined and clearly understood by parties concerned to maintain and sustain labor productivity and industrial competitiveness of the province;

4. We shall adopt the latest locally and commercially developed appropriate technologies to enhance business productivity thus providing opportunities for our local scientists and inventors to continuously search, discover and develop new technologies enhancing our local research & development efforts;

5. We shall endeavor to continually identify and find new market opportunities to amplify the reach of our local products both in the domestic and international market guided by the generally accepted fair trade practices and business ethics;

6. We shall comply with all the business regulatory requirements and pay the appropriate local business taxes as our contribution to nation building

7. We shall pass and approve enabling local ordinances and laws to further provide conducive business environment to our entrepreneurs and investors;

8. We shall ensure that our Corporate Social Responsibilities are effectively and religiously carried out especially to communities affected by our operations;

9. We shall continue to provide business development services to contribute to the competitiveness and profitability of OTOP Enterprises, and

10. We shall make OTOP as a vehicle for employment generation and poverty alleviation.

FIVE LGUs IN ALBAY IMPLEMENT STREAMLINED BUSINESS PERMITS & LICENSING SYSTEM

In accordance with the service standards which the national government is setting consistent with Republic Act No. 9485, otherwise known as the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007 (ARTA), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) issued Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) No. 01, series of 2010 stating therein the Guidelines in Implementing the Standards in Processing Business Permits and Licenses in all cities and municipalities in the country. Under the JMC, all cities and municipalities are enjoined to follow the following standards in processing business permits and licenses:

. UNIFIED FORM - all cities and municipalities shall use a single unified form in processing new applications for business permits and business renewals. The unified form consolidates all the information about a business registrant needed by various local and national agencies. The adoption of the unified form is anticipated to contribute to reduction of steps an time in applying for business permits.

. STANDARD STEPS - All cities and municipalities shall ensure that applicants for business registration shall follow five(5) steps in applying for new business permits or for business renewals:

1. Securing an application form from the city or municipality
2. Filing or submission of the accomplished application form with attached documentary requirements
3. One-time assessment of taxes, fees and charges
4. One-time payment of taxes, fees and charges
5. Securing the Mayor's Permit upon submission of Official REceipt as proof of payment of taxes, fees and charges imposed by the LGU

. STANDARD PROCESSING TIME - Consistent with ARTA, all cities and municipalities are enjoined to comply with the prescribed time for processing of business registrations:

1. Processing of new business permits, which is classified as a complex transaction following the ARTA classification, shall not take more than 10 days for the release of the permit. However, the LGUs are enjoined to strive for 5 days or less which is the average processing days in LGUs with streamlined BPLS

2. Processing of business renewals, which is classified as a simple transaction, shall not take more than 5 days for the release of the permit. However, LGUs are enjoined to strive for one day or less processing, which is the average processing time in LGUs with streamlined BPLS

. SIGNATORIES - all cities and municipalities shall follow the prescribed number of signatories required in processing new business applications and business renewals to five days following the ARTA. However, LGUs are enjoined to require only two (2) signatories, namely, the Mayor and the Treasurer or BPLO. To avoid delay in the release of permits, alternate signatories (e.g. Municipal or City Administrator of the BPLO) may be properly deputized by the Mayor.

In the province of Albay, five (5) Local Government Units, namely: Tabaco City, Legazpi City, Municipalities of Daraga and Guinobatan and Ligao City have been selected to pilot the implementation of the streamlined business permits and licensing system adopting all the above stated guidelines and procedures starting January, 2011. All said LGUs have set-up their respective Business One-Stop Shops which will run during the entire first quarter of 2011.

Initial assessment of the new BPLS and BOSS reveals that applications for business registration have surge dramatically. All LGUs reported significant reduction in processing time from the standard of one day for business renewals, they release mayor's permit in a matter of 30 minutes to 1 hour.

To verify whether these registration reforms have been implemented as required and that the clients have really experienced the benefits of the new system, the Department of Trade and Industry-Albay Provincial Office devised a Client Satisfaction Feedback (CSF) form and distributed it to the participating LGUs for distribution also to the registrants. Evaluation will be done in March, 2011.

After the five pilot LGUs for this year, the Albay BPLS Streamlining Team will start the training for the Phase 2 which will be participated-in by another five (5) LGUs who will implement the new BPLS and BOSS in 2012. The remaining 8 municipalities are expected to fully implement the system in 2013.

CALLING START-UP ENTREPRENEURS

ANNOUNCEMENT: ALL INTERESTED START-UP ENTREPRENEURS AND WOULD-BE ONES who wish to enhance their entrepreneurship knowledge and skills, watch out for the start the Livelihood & Entrepreneurship Advocacy Program (LEAP) of the Department of Trade and Industry-Albay Provincial Office. The schedule of entrepreneurship and skills training, both on-site (office) and off-site (LGUs)will be every second and last thursday of the month, respectively starting February, 2011. For reservation and further inquiries, kindly call DTI @ tel. no. 052 4350337, 480-6834 or 820-6830.

THOLONS, Intl. CONDUCTS SKILLS ASSESSMENT FOR LEGAZPI'S LOCAL MANPOWER

In year 2010, the city of Legazpi has been ranked 12th among the Next Wave Cities by the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) and the Business Processing Association of the Phl (BPAP) as a favorable destination and location for ICT businesses. There were four criteria set for the ranking following the industry scorecard and these include: Infrastructure, Talent, Cost of Doing Business and the Business Environment. Among the four components, Legazpi scored low under Talent and this challenged the city government to look into the reasons behind especially so that it aims to reach the Top 10 category in year 2011.

Given the above challenge, the City Government of Legazpi, in partnership with the Albay Information and Communications Technology Association, Inc. (AICTA) and the Legazpi City ICT Council, has tapped the services of an international consulting firm, THOLONS, Inc. to do the IT-BPO Skills Assessment & evaluation of the city's human resource potentials and capabilities in response to the big challenge raised by industry as regards to the city's readiness and capability in hosting potential ICT-enabled investors and locators.

The skills assessment will be conducted on February 1-4, 2011 and will be participated-in by 500 graduating students from the following participating schools:

1. Bicol University
2. Divine Word College of Legazpi
3. Bicol College
4. Ago Medical & Educational Center-Bicol Christian College of Medicine
5. SL Technological College Foundation
6. STI College-Legazpi
7. AMA Computer College-Legazpi Campus
8. De Vera Institute of Technology
9. Mariners' Polytechnic Colleges Foundation
10. Computer Arts & Technological College
11. Tanchuling College
12. Aquinas University of Legazpi

Results of the said assessment will serve as an important input not only to the City Government in its effort to develop programs and projects to prepare its local talents but most importantly to the participating schools in trying to adjust or match their respective curricular offerings to the requirements of the industry. It is further hoped that the study (assessment) will give a true picture of the status of the existing readiness and capabilities of the local talents so that investors and locators will come in and provide employment and income to the local manpower pool.