DAGUPAN CITY -- The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) provincial office in Pangasinan is advocating the young people to have a business and avail of government services to be able to start one.
DTI-Pangasinan Director Natalia Dalaten on Monday said their office has been accepting on-the-job trainees from senior high schools, especially those enrolled in Accounting, Business and Management strand, to expose the youth to entrepreneurship.
“We conduct seminars for them and also we welcome them in our office and in the Negosyo centers all over the province for business consultancy,” she said.
The DTI, Dalaten said, has seminars and trainings they may attend depending on their interest.
“We have seminars on how to start a business; business licensing; pricing among others. Some will only take one to two days, while some would take ten modules,” she added.
Dalaten said DTI, along with other national government agencies, has programs intended for the youth including the Youth Entrepreneurship Program (YEP) which was launched in 2018 and continuously being cascaded in the different regions of the country.
“The YEP is a nationwide program that aims to help young Filipinos develop their entrepreneurial skills through a comprehensive package of interventions. YEP, with its official tagline "Harnessing Our Own Resources for the Advancement of the Youth!", supports the government’s growth agenda of doubling the number of entrepreneurs in the country by 2022 which, in turn, will broaden the gains of economic development, address inequality, and uplift the quality of life of Filipinos, particularly the youth,” according to the DTI website.
Dalaten said DTI also caters to young people who are already into business through its programs, such as the Building Entrepreneurs through Advisory and Mentoring Services (BEAMS).
“Its goal is to assist micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in improving their business operations through mentoring services of local Volunteer Mentors (VMs). The youth were mentored by more experienced and mature person for them to attain a certain goal,” she said.
In terms of financial assistance, Dalaten said the young entrepreneurs, who have existing business registered with mayor’s permit and business name, may avail of the Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-Asenso (P3) program of the DTI.
P3 program allows micro entrepreneurs to avail of loan amounting from PHP5,000 to PHP200,000 with 2.5 percent monthly interest. Further details regarding P3 program are available at https://www.dti.gov.ph/
“We need to nurture the youth because they easily change their minds. So, we got their profile including their contact numbers to do follow-up on them to make sure they will continue to pursue their plans of putting up a business,” Dalaten said.
She said MSMEs in Pangasinan comprise 60 percent of the total in the whole Region 1 (Ilocos).
“They are lifeblood to our economy,” she added. (PNA)
