The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry said it supports the Department of Trade and Industry in pushing for the amendment of RA 9184, or the Government Procurement Reform Act, to help locally-made products thrive in the age of global health and economic crisis.
PCCI president George Barcelon said the chamber, whose membership is composed majority of small and medium businesses, fully supports the initiative of DTI as it will bring hope and propel MSMEs to start again and eventually contribute to economic growth.
“The ‘Buy Local, Go Local’ is certainly a good platform that PCCI and DTI can work with. We hope that we can convince our legislatures to pass this measure or at least come up with a policy that will provide support and boost the recovery of our MSMEs. This is one way of helping them recover and thrive again,” Barcelon said.
Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said in a virtual meeting with the newly-installed leaders of PCCI that the DTI was pushing for the amendment of RA 9184 to incorporate provisions that would allow bidding solely for Philippine manufactured products that are certified by the government.