ILIGAN CITY (PIA)--The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Lanao del Norte encourages more micro enterprises to register their businesses and avail of incentives under the Barangay Micro Business Enterprise (BMBE) Law through a series of BMBE forums with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

The BMBE Forum will be held February 21 in Kolambugan and February 23 in Lala. A BMBE is any business enterprise engaged in the production, processing, or manufacturing of products, including agro-processing, as well as trading and providing services, with total assets of not more than P3 million. The assets shall include those arising from loans but not the land where the plant and equipment are located.

Benefits under BMBE include income tax exemption for income arising from operations of the enterprise, exemption from the coverage of the minimum wage law (but BMBE employees are still entitled to the same social security and health care benefits as other employees), priority access to a special credit window set up specifically for the financing requirements of BMBEs, and technology transfer, production and management training, and marketing assistance programs for BMBE beneficiaries.

Registration and BMBE certification are both free of charge. (DTI-10/PIA-10/Lanao del Norte)