Despite the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, thousands of new businesses opened in Western Visayas.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI-6) registered a total of 28, 830 new business names last year.
Negros Occidental posted the most number of new businesses with 11,061, followed by Iloilo (7,765), Aklan (3,586), Capiz (2,893), Antique (2,205), and Guimaras (1,300).
Majority or 18,165 of the new business names in the region were approved in the first quarter (January to March) of 2020.
The figure went down to only 3,213 in the second quarter (April –June).
In the third (July-September) and fourth (October-December) quarters, the DTI-6 booked 5,246 and 2,197 new businesses, respectively.
Total business renewals last year, meanwhile, reached 3,678, down from 2019’s 5,281.
The trade and industry department collected P2.6-million in business registration and renewal fees, way lower than P16 million in 2019.IMT
