Trade Undersecretary Merly Cruz said the DTI-Regional Operations Group (ROG) is now shopping around for funds to support small businesses engaged in producing coconut byproducts.

One source of funding, she said, is Jica, which gave a grant of P60 million for the 2007-10 period for different projects in the Davao area alone. “We are scaling it for 2012. We hope to get additional grants from Jica,” Cruz told the BusinessMirror. Coco coir, she added, has huge potential, particularly its application in road construction.

The Department of Public Works and Highways is a ready customer for coco coir which is a good alternative for road embankments. Winning bidders of infrastructure projects throughout the country are also potential buyers of coco coir.

Cruz said areas that will be tapped for coco- coir production include Quezon and other provinces in Region 4, Leyte and Samar.

She said the DTI cannot just depend on the allocation for the One Town, One Product program since the Department of Budget and Management only gave it a P67-million budget for 2012.

Aside from coco coir, the DTI-ROG is also developing the engineered bamboo industry as part of efforts to boost economic activity in the provinces.

(Max de Leon)