KORONADAL CITY, Philippines - The office of the Department of Trade and Industry in Region 12 has provided five mechanical clay rollers to a local group of entrepreneurs manufacturing soil pots and soil bricks to improve their productivity.
Flora P. Gabunales, the provincial director of DTI for South Cotabato, said the help the department extended to members of the Purok O’Belo Pottery Makers Association in Brgy. San Felipe in Tantangan town is part of its Shared Services Facility (SSF) initiative.
The SSF is a priority program of Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo, according to Gabunales.
The SSF aims to improve the productivity and competitiveness of entrepreneurs in far-flung areas by providing equipment and facilities needed in their income-generating industries and traditional crafts.
The clay rollers the DTI-12 gave out to residents of San Felipe were worth P850,000, according to Gabunales.
The turnover of the equipment, held early this week, was witnessed by Olive Sudaria, the director of the Philippine Information Agency for Region 12, and a member of the South Cotabato provincial board, Ellen Grace Subere-Albios.
The DTI central office has earmarked P700 million for its SSF thrust for 2013.
The DTI-12 had earlier distributed a sugarcane roller, and other special portable machinery needed to process agricultural products to different groups in Region 12’s neighboring Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato, Sarangani, and South Cotabato provinces.