Saturday, May 19, 2007

DTI Schedules 2nd Visayas OTOP Fair in Boracay

Region 6 will play host to the 2nd Visayas One Town One Product (OTOP) fair at the white beach Boracay Island, Malay, Aklan. The fair will be held for five days from 23 – 27 May 2007 at the La Carmela de Boracay Resort. The opening program is at 6:00 pm on May 23. A total of 112 OTOP Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) from Region 6 (45 SMEs), Region 7 (37 SMEs), and Region 8 (30 SMEs), are expected to join.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Regional Director Dominic P. Abad revealed the fair will be highlighted by a night market on the beach from 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm daily while regular selling from 2:00 pm – 11:00 pm daily will be conducted at the second floor of the resort. Products for sale include: souvenir items, beachwear, novelty items, furnishings, natural fiber, fashion accessories such as bags, shawls, headgears and footwears, also food items and horticulture inputs for landscaping.
To add color to the fair, a daily live mannequin show will be done from 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm, featuring the different products of Regions 6, 7 and 8. To make the fair more alive, a rolling band will be commissioned to roam from station 1, 2 and 3 in addition to a sailboat bearing the OTOP logo that will sail around the Island. To enliven the night market, a sand art castle with all the candlelights featuring OTOP will be mounted plus a band to play reggae music.
According to Dir. Abad, the Island of Boracay was chosen as the fair venue because most souvenir shops are there. It is where the domestic and foreign tourists abound and it has great market and tourism potentials. Invited to come are buyers from Manila and from the three regions, governors and mayor and other government officials from the national government agencies, among others.
Abad stressed that the 2nd OTOP fair will focus on the selling of products produced by the SMEs of the three regions under the DTI OTOP Philippines program to promote entrepreneurship and create jobs in the countryside. It encourages the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to produce and market distinct products or services using the indigenous raw materials and manpower through the Local Government Units (LGUs), which take the lead in identifying, developing, and promoting a specific product or service which has a competitive advantage. The DTI through the Regional Operations group and the SME Development Group assist the LGUs in identifying the specific product and coordinate other forms of assistance from other government agencies such as the Departments of Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources , Interior and Local Government, DOST, DOT and the Technical Education Skills Development Authority. Package of assistance includes business counseling, skills and entrepreneurial training, marketing, and introduction of appropriate technologies.
The 1st OTOP fair was held in Cebu City last year focused on the product development initiatives of the DTI. It highlighted the tourism and market potentials of the Supra Region, the Central Philippines, attracted more than half of the foreign tourists in the country. The fair became a vehicle to showcase the OTOPs of Regions 6, 7 and 8. It generated sales amounting to P3.77M for the 4-day fair.
The DTI is bent on supporting the LGUs in promoting the products of the OTOP SMEs. Lately, the DTI has signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Development Bank of the Philippines for a special window on financing for the OTOP SMEs. (Reby M. Melliza/DTI-6) /MP

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