CALAPAN CITY, Oriental Mindoro (PIA) -- Officials of the Provincial Government of Oriental Mindoro and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) recently led the groundbreaking ceremonies for four Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) facilities located in municipalities of San Teodoro, Victoria, Gloria and Bulalacao together with the representaties of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI).

According to Alessandra ‘Apples’ Jalandoni of GGGI, the project construction costing P30 million will kick-off later this year for MSMEs facilities which are expected to boost the province's top agricultural products such as calamansi, banana, coconut and seaweed.

The projects that broke ground are the Calamansi Processing Facility for the Pakyas Rural Improvement Club (PARIC) in Victoria, Coconut Processing Facility for the Bigaan Agrarian Reform Cooperative (BARCO) in San Teodoro, Banana Processing Facility for the Malubay Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Association (MARBA) in Gloria, and Seaweeds Processing Facility for the Samahang Manggagawa sa Balatasan (SAMASABALATASAN) in Bulalacao.

Implemented by GGGI and funded by Korean government through KOICA, the MSMEs facilities are part of a 4-year US $5 million (P294-million) Climate Resilient and Inclusive Agricultural Value Chain project that will strengthen the province's farmers cooperatives by capacitating them while expanding markets for their products.

KOICA Philippine Country Director Eunsub Kim said KOICA has a long history of supporting development projects aimed at achieving sustained poverty reduction in emerging economies.  He said agriculture is one of the priority areas of the Korean government for its official development assistance cooperation with the Philippines.

Kim stressed that Oriental Mindoro will benefit from the agri-value chain enhancement of its four major crops and has a high potential to catalyze sustainable growth in the region.

On the other hand, Jalandoni in a phone interview said each upgraded agri coop facility will be a 100-square meter, single story modern structure, partly powered by solar energy. The facilities will also be equipped with food processing machines to enable farmer-entrepreneurs to manufacture their crops into high-value processed food products.

Moreover, the project will not only provide farmers with new food processing plants, but will also equip them with the necessary skills to operate and grow sustainable micro-enterprises. The goal is for the entire operation to be Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-certified so there is a need for constant supervision by a competent food technologist or quality assurance officer, Jalandoni said.

GGGI Philippine Country Representative Juhern Kim said FDA accreditation will be transformational as it will change the scope of the potential market coverage of these MSMEs.

The governor reiterated the province's commitment to provide a safe and favorable environment for small businesses to thrive, championing policies which promote ease of doing business. (AJ-GGGI/LTC/PIA-OrMin)