ARMM execs see hope in livelihood center

COTABATO CITY — The Department of Trade and Industry in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DTI-ARMM) is setting up this month a Technology and Livelihood Development Center (TLDC) to complement efforts to improve the region’s fledgling economy.

Ishak Mastura, the ARMM’s trade and industry secretary, cited the need to put up such a center in the region since TLDCs now operating in many parts of the country have served as effective conduits to educate various sectors on the intricacies of socio-economic ventures that can improve commerce and trade in local communities.

The DTI-ARMM conceived of the TLDC after Mastura, along with his senior technical staffers Romeo Diocolano and Jose Mario Gana, toured such centers in the Negros Occidental cities of Bacolod and Bago, which are considered among the country’s best.

The Bacolod and Bago TLDCs have served as convergence points for the common services of the DTI, the Technical Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

Mastura said TLDCs, in essence, function as springboards for the spread of information and technology to local communities which, with technical support, can be harnessed as productive sectors of the society.

"It is the TLDC then that will be a good venue for educating these communities and making them aware of what economic potentials they have and how to develop these," he said.

The ARMM’s TLDC will be directly under the auspices of the regional trade and industry department, in cooperation with the ARMM Business Council.

The Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM), which is bankrolled by the United States Agency for International Development, will provide technical support.

Complementing the TLDC’s operations are the Regional Board of Investments, the regional Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, TESDA and other support offices under the office of ARMM Gov. Parouk Hussin.

Hussin has pledged his all-out support for the TLDC. "This is a laudable initiative of the office of Secretary Mastura in particular and the ARMM’s executive branch in general," he said.

The ARMM government, represented by Mastura’s office, and the Technology and Livelihood Development Center signed a memorandum of agreement last Dec. 18 that paved the way for the setting up of the ARMM’s TLDC.