DTI allocates P5M for SPIN expansion

CEBU, Philippines – The Philippine government through the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will spend at least P5 million to expand the Subcontracting Partners for Innovation (SPIN) program this year.

Initially implemented in Central Visayas, initiated by the Cebu Gifts Toys and Housewares Foundation (GTH-Cebu), the program is now being adopted in the nationwide level, said DTI-7 regional director Asteria Caberte in a press conference.

According to Caberte the expansion of SPIN program, which will now tap other potential suppliers for export sector in Cebu, is in preparation for the projected recovery of the export sector.

The program started in June 2008 with only P500 thousand budget, now benefits 2,622 people from nine regions in the country, including regions, one, three, six, seven, eight, 10, 11 and 12.

Cebuano exporters mostly from the GTH sector is now sourcing their order requirements from marginal communities around these regions, Caberte said this year, more areas will be covered by the program.

The 2,622 beneficiaries of SPIN programs have already produced products for exporters worth P67.16 million in purchase order.

Currently, there are 13 Cebu-based exporters who are actively participating the program, and this number is expanding while the export sector has seen recovery in the next few months or early next year.

Significantly, when the furniture sector will recover, more people are expected to benefit the program, Caberte said.

Recently, Caberte and GTH-Cebu former president Jenifer Cruz received a 2009 Presidential Citation for Best Practice in improving access to markets for implementing the SPIN.

The citation was given during the recently concluded Micro Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Development Week held in Metro Manila.

The SPIN program, a government-private sector undertaking conceptualized in Cebu, not only generates employment for weavers but likewise assists exports in increasing production volume of exported products.

Under the program, the weavers in the countryside are made to undergo skills training on weaving and craftsmanship after which, their hand-made products are brought by the exporters once these passed quality standards.

In this way, rebel returnees and indigents can immediately earn an income after a hard day’s work with their earnings dependent on the number of products they make, Caberte said.

SPIN trainings are focused on a “market driven” scheme wherein the products to be made by the trained group are actual export orders. Most exporters who do not have enough workers to do the job orders of their clients subcontract some of these processes. Months after the SPIN program was rolled out to cleared conflict areas and marginalized sectors in Central Visayas, residents who have been beneficiaries of skills trainings conducted by DTI-7 GTH-Cebu and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), have already delivered the booked orders of exporters.

In Central Visayas alone, 45 municipalities have benefited from the program. Around 77 trainings have generated 1,791 jobs. Booked orders for hapao baskets, placemats, tip towels and trays have reached P59.8 million.