CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA)--Greenhorn local enterprises in Lanao del Sur province took center stage on Thursday, November 25, as the Provincial Government and Islamic Relief Philippines hosted the "Provincial Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development (MSMED) Council Expo 2021" at Limketkai Luxe Hotel in Cagayan de Oro City.
The expo drew local MSMEs to showcase their products and share their business experiences, challenges, concerns, and needs to sustain their businesses while heads of government line agencies presented their programs to support enterprise development and help local entrepreneurs.
Azrifa Mamutuk, supervising administrative officer of the Provincial Government and focal person for the Council, said the expo is a way of showing the commitment of the Provincial MSMED Council as the lead government mechanism in the province for enterprise development.
“We bring the BARMM line agencies, our LGUs, and the private sector [MSMEs] to truly discuss kung ano yung mga issues, concerns especially the gaps para mapadali ang pagnenegosyo nila sa aming probinsiya dito sa Lanao del Sur (what the issues are, the concerns especially the gaps to facilitate their doing business in our province here in Lanao del Sur),” she said.
Azrifa Mamutuk, Supervising Administrative Officer of the Provincial Government and focal person for the Provincial MSMED Council, explains that the expo is a way of showing the commitment of the Provincial MSMED Council as the lead government mechanism in the province for enterprise development. (Angelo Dologmandin/PIA Lanao del Sur)
On the part of Islamic Relief Philippines, program manager Sittie Jamairah Disomimba said they partnered with the Provincial MSMED Council as they support women-led enterprises in the province under the Sustaining Women Economic Empowerment Project (SWEEP).
"We came up with this idea to bridge the gap between the business entrepreneurs and the line agencies of the government. It is timely also because the Bangsamoro government was just reinstituted and has come up with a different type of line agencies unlike our national line agencies," she said.
Aside from local entrepreneurs and line agencies of the government, local chief executives and their business processing and licensing officers, as well as their treasurers, also participated in the expo to come up with an idea on how to improve enterprise development in their localities.
Islamic Relief Philippines Program Manager Sittie Jamairah Disomimba says they partnered with the Provincial MSMED Council as they support women-led enterprises in the province under its Sustaining Women Economic Empowerment Project. (Angelo Dologmandin/PIA Lanao del Sur)
During the expo, Baicon Cayongcat-Nuska, executive director of Raheemah Peace Weavers Cooperative, shared the success story of Raheemah and its contributions to the upliftment of the local enterprise sector such as facilitating the construction of Economic Hub and Development Center in Marawi City where women and youth entrepreneurs can consolidate and sell their products. Raheemah was also a partner in the development of contextualized area-based competencies which were submitted to the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority for approval.
The municipal government of Taraka also showcased their “Makinig, Matuto, Magbayad" (3M) drive that changed the negative perception of its constituents towards taxation and increased their appreciation of tax-paying. Accordingly, the 3M drive has increased the LGU's tax collections from P51,914 in 2015 to P1,078,772.13 in 2020. The 3M drive was also recognized by the Bangsamoro government as one of the LGU best practices under the 2020 LGU Grant Assistance for Innovative Practices. (APB/PIA Lanao del Sur)
