NEGROS ORIENTAL— The Province of Negros Oriental has reactivated the micro, small, and medium enterprises development council (MSMEDC) to coordinate, encourage, and strengthen MSMEs' economic recovery towards self-sufficiency from the negative impact of COVID-19.
According to Negros Oriental Assistant Provincial Administrator Atty. Froilan Pinili, members of the MSMEs in the province and government agencies involved in local economic recovery held an entrepreneur summit last week in Dumaguete City to map out priority projects in support of the MSMEs’ participation in economic activities of the province.
Pinili said the province recognized the important role of MSMEs in the local economy and one of the top priorities of the provincial government is to ensure food security as it continues to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
"MSMEs are partners with the local government units in ensuring that food production and agriculture are self-sufficient, and these are key priorities for our local economy to bounce back to pre-COVID-19 situation," Pinili said in his message during the Summit.
“We must learn to support and cooperate with each other if we want to succeed. We need the discipline of other people. Together, we can win and heal as one,” he added.
Pinili highlighted the province’s top programs to increase rice and corn productivity being the staple food of the residents as well as poultry, livestock and vegetable production. He lauded the Provincial Agriculturist Office (PAO) for continuously providing material and funding assistance to fishermen to increase their catch.
The MSME sector has been identified as among the three hardest hit sectors by the COVID-19 pandemic, aside from tourism and transportation, Pinili said.
Negros Oriental is the first province that re-activated its MSMEDC through Executive Order 24 reconstituting the council to promote, support, strengthen, and encourage the growth and development of MSMEs as catalysts of employment generation, attain self-sufficiency, and economic recovery. He noted that the re-activation of the council was also in line with the celebration of the annual National MSME Week in July with the Summit held at the Provincial Convention Center, Dumaguete City.