INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The head of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Wednesday said around P800 million has been earmarked as budget for its shared service facilities this year, funding that will be used to buy new equipment, including modern packaging machines.

Trade Secretary Ma. Cristina Roque said she wants to distribute these new equipment within the year at these centers which lets micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) use their machinery, equipment and tools for free.

“The only basic requirement that I have for now to be able to buy these machines for our shared service facility is they must have repair and after sales service,” Roque told reporters on the sideline of Propak Phililppines 2025, one of the country’s biggest trade fairs about the packaging industry.

READ: More than 200,000 new businesses registered with DTI in Jan

Roque lamented that there are firms which offer the type of machines they are looking to buy but have no repair and after sales service, leaving many machines unusable after years of use.

“We also need to constantly train the people or the MSMEs that will use these machines because actually these machines are, let’s say they’re operating 24 hours, just like a car, there really need to be after-sales service,” she added.

The DTI’s shared service facility program is a strategic initiative designed to enhance the productivity and competitiveness of MSMEs in the Philippines.

The DTI said it functions as a network of facilities scattered across the country, equipped with modern machinery, equipment, tools, and resources tailored to various industries such as food processing, furniture making, and bamboo crafts.

By offering MSMEs access to these facilities on a shared basis, the program significantly reduces the cost of individual investments in technology, said the government agency.

In a news release over the weekend, PISI said it purchased random rebars from hardware stores in Davao del Sur, Davao del Norte, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Zamboanga del Norte, Samal Island, Cotabato City, Pagadian City, and Iligan City on Sept. 9 to 13.

In an announcement Saturday, SSS said the new OIC succeeded its former president, Rolando Ledesma Macasaet, who resigned on October 3 to run for a House seat under the SSS-GSIS Pensyonado Partylist.

During the same event, Roque highlighted the importance of assisting MSMES, citing their significant contribution to the country’s economy.

“MSMEs are the backbone of our economy and are something that we are really pushing. Being 99.5 percent of the business establishment and 60 percent of the workforce, this is a sector that we cannot deny and we cannot ignore,” she said.

At the same event, Asia Packaging Federation President Joseph Ross Jocson said that sustainability has become a necessity in the packaging industry, indicating the importance of technology which offer these solutions.

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“Consumers are increasingly demanding eco-friendly choices and businesses are facing growing pressures to reduce their environmental impactrich711,” Jocson said.