Go Negosyo Act to bring government closer to mSMEs – DTI

bam quino

The signing into law of Republic Act 10644 – “An Act Promoting Job Generation and Inclusive Growth through the Development of mSMEs,” sometimes called the Go Negosyo Act, will bring government support services closer to micro and small businesses, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Authored by Senator Benigno “Bam” Aquino, the bill was signed into law by President Benigno Simeon Aquino last July 15.

The Law calls for the establishment by the DTI of Negosyo Centers in all provinces, cities and municipalities in the country which will facilitate doing business and access to business support services by small business.

“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.

To simplify and hasten business registration and start-up process, the Negosyo Centers would be linked to the Philippine Business Registry System (PBRS), which  integrates the services of all agencies involved in business registration.  These include 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.

The Go Negosyo Centers are expected to allow small enterprises to avail of such other services as technology transfer, production and management training programs as well as marketing assistance from the DTI, Department of Science and Technology (DOST), University of the Philippines  Institute for Small-Scale Industries (UP ISSI), Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) .

MSMEs account for more than 99 percent of all establishments in the country and 66 percent of total employment in the private sector.