Wednesday, October 27, 2010

OTOP Visayas Island Fair 2010 on Nov. 17-21


It’s three times the charm as the Visayan leg of the One Town, One Product (OTOP) Philippines holds its last annual fair at SM City Cebu Atrium this November 17 to 21, 2010.

This five-day trade fair will display a wide array of exciting homegrown products from Central Philippines dubbed "Distinctly Visayas", according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the marketing arm of the OTOP.

From souvenir items, novelty items, gift items, home decors, natural fiber, processed food, footwear to wearables, the OTOP fair aims to promote native goods from the Visayan islands.

The Visayas Region composed of Regions 6, 7 and 8 have joined hands to come-up with this fair to provide opportunities for budding entrepreneurs and develop a new culture of local pride.
The three regions of the Visayas have again come together to form a united front, a Supra-region, complementing each other through the sheer diversity of each region's products and tourist destinations that have captured more than half of the country's foreign visitors in the country.

The OTOP Visayas Island Fair is an activity that aims to highlight the OTOP program with the Local Government Units (LGUs) as the implementing arm to strengthen countryside development by promoting entrepreneurship and creating jobs.

This marketing event also aims to generate significant sales; train exhibitors in dealing and negotiating with local and foreign buyers and exporters and develop new exporters from among the participants.

Under the OTOP, LGUs take the lead in identifying, developing and promoting a specific product or service, of which their areas have specific advantage.

OTOP-Philippines provides a comprehensive assistance package through a convergence of services from LGUs, national government agencies and the private sector. This includes business counseling, skills and entrepreneurial training, product design and development, appropriate technologies and marketing.

The DTI said the OTOP-Philippines is designed to support micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME's) in the manufacturing and marketing of distinctive products and services to a much better level and achieve measurable results.




For more news on DTI please visit http://tradeneconomydti.blogspot.com/ http://tradeneconomydtiact.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Marketing Visayan Creativity


It is amazing how Filipino manufacturers make use of indigenous materials to come up with world class ingenious designs that delight our aesthetic sensibilities despite economic constraints!

Still, in the vicious commercial arena, “world class” creativity accounts for nothing unless it earns money.

This is the reason why product development and marketing are crucial. And for micro, small and medium enterprises, participation in trade fairs is important for business survival and growth. At the One Town One Product Visayas Island Fair (OVIF) organized by the DTI every November, Visayan manufacturers show the world that they could compete with the best of the best products with unique propositions that please the eye or palate and win over the most discriminating buyers.

Shoes!
Shoemaking is part of the heritage of Carcar. The town’s artisans based mainly in Barangays Poblacion 3, Liburon and Villadolid have been churning out shoes and sandals for generations. However, it was only with the founding of the Carcar United Footwear Manufacturer’s Association, Inc. (CUFMAI) that shoemaking became a major industry in the town.

Today, CUFMAI footwear artisans have expanded their market to include exporters and large retailers.DTI-Cebu Division Chief Elias Tecson said that it is easier and faster for manufacturers who are organized to get assistance from government. Being members of an organization provides the manufacturers learning benefits and lends them a bigger voice in an advocacy to develop the industry and their business. Today, there are around 16 active members of CUFMAI, majority of whom are from Barangay Valladolid and are employing an average of 15 shoe workers per member.

“There are around 1,500 footwear manufacturers in Carcar, but only 16 are currently members of CUFMAI,” Tecson explained. “This is because the DTI wants to limit the members only to those legitimate manufacturers who have registered their business names with the DTI, pay taxes to the local government, and are able to follow the by-laws of the association.”

At the Carcar permanent exhibit area for footwear or OTOP Center, local shoemakers have already received several orders from institutional buyers and exporters. There is a long line of shoe stores like Footfit (Ruth del Rosario), Jefferson (Hene Fernandez), Ariel (Elsie Sandoy), Kring’s Footwear (Melencio Lausa), Lesvie (Leslie Empasis), Jan Rey (L. Liadas), Beht (E. Wamar), Mellenol (M. Aldaya), RJE (F.Inanuria), Lear McGlear (G. Apura), Mary Grace (Perlas awardee M. Tangkay), Ryan (H. Retillosa),among others. The monthly sales average of the center is around P1.5-M. Imelda Aldaya, manager of CUFMAI member Melenoll’s, said that through the efforts of DTI Cebu Provincial Office, the association was able to join prestigious trade fairs and has respectable turn out of sales generated and booked orders. “The DTI has also sponsored a pattern-making seminar for the shoemakers and provided assistance in credit management, delinquency control, and technical assistance.”

Tecson said that through President Arroyo’s “Isang Bayan, Isang Produkto, Isang Milyong Piso” program, CUFMAI got a P1-M loan, which the group used to buy raw materials and shoe components in bulk. In response to the perennial problem of lack of capital, the DTI has introduced the shoemakers to government financing institutions.

Tecson revealed that Carcar now supplies shoes to the Visayas and Mindanao, particularly big malls n Mindanao. He added that some colleges, like the Southwestern University and the University of Cebu, now buy nursing shoes from Carcar.

Food!
Bohol, a favourite tourist haven, with its ubiquitous peanut kisses, banana chips, and calamay, has also enjoyed DTI assistance.

The Boholano Processed Food Business Association, Inc., is the first organization of food processors in the province. It employs 1,200 direct workers and has benefited from the creation of the Integrated Technology, Systems and Support Amenities for Food Enterprises or the ITS SAFE Center. Members of this association further improved the quality of their food products with the establishment of the first Boholano Food Safety Team and Designers Pool for Product Packaging.

DTI Bohol Provincial Director Nannette Arbon said this introduction of food safety measures, food sanitation, good manufacturing practices, introduction and adoption of appropriate product packaging and labelling had contributed to the expansion of local food producers’ market. Bucarez Food Processing Corporation has seen the importance of high quality pasalubong products particularly with their peanut kisses.

“We used to have difficulty in increasing product shelf life until we decided to change part of the ingredients and switched to a more appropriate packaging with the help of the government,” Manager Francis Serenas of Bucarez said.

Director Arbon said, “aside from the usual pasalubong products, we are also trying to increase the shelf life of the traditional calamay and ube food products. Also, we have facilitated Bohol food producers’ participation in trade fairs so they can network with food processors, exporters and consolidators.”

Bags!
The pandan bags of La Libertad, Negros Oriental has only been in business for the past six years, but this all-women group of weavers - comprised of mothers, housewives, local dynamic and forward-looking women - has improved the living conditions of some 18 families or more. They are the La Libertad Weavers Association (LALIWA).

LALIWA regularly produces mats, bags, baskets and various accessories, with its members developing into entrepreneurs and businesswomen. “The association, which began producing handmade bags out of pandan as the raw material, has empowered at least 18 women of two barangays in La Libertad,” DTI Negros Oriental Provincial Director Javier Fortunato said. He added that close coordination with the DTINegros Oriental Office has greatly improved the group’s business through the agency’s product development initiatives and marketing assistance.

“Their bags have now crossed borders and continents with their improved designs and quality.” From the start of their operations in 2004, the group had been assisted and closely monitored by then mayor and now 1st District Congresswoman Josy S. Limkaichong. With an initial capital of only P13,000, the group now has some Php150,000. in assets, excluding the sales from past participations in trade fairs. Today, the good congresswoman still provides assistance to the group through her livelihood. projects, while DTI continues to expose them to business opportunities, such as the One Visayas Island Fair (OVIF) and other regional trade venues.

See them at the fair!
For these business organizations and many like them in Central Visayas undergoing product development and joining trade fairs were keys to their success. They all agreed that such activities opened doors for them and allowed them to break into their target markets.

Helping MSMEs expand their market reach and sustain business has always been a major concern of the DTI. Various DTI agencies have been tasked to design marketing programmes to increase the exposure of MSMEs in domestic and foreign markets, and to improve the distribution of MSME products between local manufacturing and trade sectors.

As part of the agency’s assistance to manufacturers and producers in the Visayas, the DTI annually sets up OVIF, a five-day order-taking and retail selling fair. It showcases the best producers from Central, Eastern and Western regions of the Visayas in one venue. The atrium of SM City Cebu is the area chosen mainly because of its high visitor traffic. Here, the finest products of the Visayas are exhibited for the convenience of institutional buyers,
exporters and export traders.

To enthusiastic buyers who visit the OVIF each year, exhibitors seem a bit practised or adept at what they do.

“Preparing manufacturers for a trade fair actually starts months ahead,” Arbon said. “Manufacturers and producers are provided with DTI assistance with regard to raw material identification to trainings in product design and market knowledge, among others.

Prospective trade fair participants also undergo a screening process to determine readiness. Most firsttimers start with trade fairs at the provincial level and later graduate to the regional stage, before moving on to the national and international arena.”

To gauge the impact of trade fairs on exhibitors, DTI designed a monitoring system to document sales generated during a fair. “DTI provincial offices also monitor movements of post-fair sales. Intensive monitoring and follow-up support is provided to ensure conversion into actual sales of booked orders and orders under negotiation during the fair,” Arbon explained.

OVIF will be celebrating its fifth anniversary on November 17-21, 2010 at the SM City Cebu. And because it is the last fair under the OTOP project’s five-year run, the showcase promises a more exciting array of items: souvenirs, gift and novelty items, furniture and furnishings, natural fibre, processed food, footwear and fashion accessories such as bags, shawls, headgears.

DTI-Cebu Provincial Director Nelia Navarro said that trade shows has always been an opportunity for producers to enhance brand and product visibility, promote new and existing products, generate leads and drive incremental sales. “Also, trade show participation enables the entrepreneurs to stay on top of the latest industry trends, gain competitor insights, make key industry contacts and further solidify relations with current customers,” Navarro added.

DTI Regional Director Asteria Caberte pointed out that attention to logistical details and coordination with the three participating Visayan regions had been vital to the success of OVIF.

 “For businesses that lack high level of marketing, an intra-regional exhibit like the OVIF is a good opportunity to showcase the best of Philippine made products,” Caberte said.

OVIF is an ideal marketing event for OTOP products of various municipalities in the Visayas, highlighting the tourism and market potentials of Central Philippines, which is the destination of more than half of foreign tourists in the country. This activity has generated significant sales, trained exhibitors in dealing and negotiating with local and foreign buyers and exporters, and developed new exporters from among the participants.

“Success of any trade fair is always determined by sales and tangible interest from buyers. And I am proud to say that in the last four years, OVIF has served its purpose. With each year’s holding of OVIF, our local manufacturers and producers have continued to increase their market reach,” Caberte concluded.  (Text by Jojisilia Villamor, Lucille Autentico, Merle Falcon, and May Liza Sevilla)






For more news on DTI please visit http://tradeneconomydti.blogspot.com/ http://tradeneconomydtiact.blogspot.com/

5th Visayas Island Fair on November 17-21


The One Town One Product (OTOP) Visayas Island Fair will hold its 5th Anniversary on November 17-21, 2010 at the SM City Cebu Atrium.

And because it is the last fair
under the OTOP project’s five-year run, the showcase promises a more exciting array of items: souvenirs, gift and novelty items, furniture and furnishings, natural fibre, processed food, footwear and fashion accessories such as bags, shawls, headgears.

More than a hundred OTOP Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) from Region 6, Region 7, and Region 8 are expected to join the OVIF.

The 5th OTOP Visayas Island Fair will focus on selling the products produced by the MSMEs of the three regions under the OTOP Philippines program.

Invited to attend the fair are buyers from Manila and from the regions, governors and mayors and other government officials from the National Government Agencies, among others.

OTOP promotes entrepreneurship in the countryside. It encourages the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to produce and market distinct products or services using indigenous raw materials and local skills of every municipality or city.

While the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is the project’s marketing arm, OTOP is a “collaborative” effort of all sectors in the society, with the local government units (LGUs) as the lead.

Executives of the Local Government Units (LGUs) take the lead in identifying, developing, and promoting a specific product or service which has a competitive advantage.

The DTI through its Provincial Offices assist the LGUs in identifying the specific product and coordinated other forms of assistance from other government agencies such as the Departments of Agriculture (DA), Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Interior and Local Government (DILG), Science and Technology (DOST), Tourism (DOT) and the Technical Education Skills Development Authority (TESDA), among others.

Package of assistance include business counseling, skills and entrepreneurial training, marketing, and introduction of appropriate technologies.

Cebu was chosen as the venue this year because it is the center of trade and commerce in the Visayas and Mindanao areas.
In fact, the 1st , 3rd and 4th OTOP fairs were held in Cebu City, while the 2nd fair was held in Boracay.

OTOP is focused on the product development initiatives of the DTI highlighting the tourism and market potentials of the Supra Region, the Central Philippines , which attracts more than half of the foreign tourists in the country.

For businesses that lack high level of marketing, an intra-regional exhibit like the Visayas Otop (One Town, One Product) Fair is a good opportunity to showcase “the best of Philippine products. This is a venue for them to be recognized, especially that this fair covers the entire Central Philippines. (ends)



For more news on DTI please visit http://tradeneconomydti.blogspot.com/ http://tradeneconomydtiact.blogspot.com/

Thursday, October 14, 2010

DTI, DOT to launch linkage program


The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI-7), in coordination with the Department of Tourism Central Visayas will soon launch an extensive linkage program with the tourism players and the grassroots producers to push vibrant economic activities especially in the non-urban areas.

DTI-7 regional director Asteria Caberte said that although the program is still on the planning stage, she said part of the plan is to provide an effective linkage between the hotels and the product producers, farmers, fishers-folk in different towns, to maximize the capacity of tourism in helping the poverty alleviation.


According to Caberte hotels, resorts, and restaurants will be encouraged to directly source their raw material requirements, not only for food and beverage raw materials but, also to strongly promote locally-produced products, like souvenirs.


This is part of the government thrust, to make tourism as the primary back-bone to boost economic activity especially in a rural community.


Instead of purchasing imported materials for any hotel operation requirement, Caberte said players will be encouraged to consider its resources produced by nearby communities.


Although, this set up is already existing, the entry of DTI and DOT in reinforcing the linkage between local producers and tourism institutions is seen to stimulate more income generating activities especially for small communities.


This is also to eradicate the existence of middle-men traders that will usually jack up the prices of commodities, products supplied to an institution.


Expanding the benefits of the OTOP (One-Town-One-Product) program, Caberte said, once the program will be finally implemented, it will stimulate entrepreneurship among town residents, and even farmers and fishermen.


Shortening the value-chain channel will be magnified, thus boosting the income generation of the producers.


Establishing a common souvenir shop or commercial center in one tourism hot-spot area will also be encouraged, so that end-producers will be able to set up their own retail stores, rather than selling their products to bulk-buyer retailers.


DTI secretary Gregory Domingo earlier said that his agency's number one priority is to push local industries to ride on to the dynamic tourism sector.


Domingo said DTI has lined up several programs that will link with the DOT in the next few months.


"Tourism is the only industry right now that can provide jobs [and livelihood opportunities] to all levels [in the society]," Domingo said adding that from un-skilled to executive level tourism sector can accommodate them all. (THE FREEMAN)





For more news on DTI please visit http://tradeneconomydti.blogspot.com/ http://tradeneconomydtiact.blogspot.com/

Monday, October 11, 2010

DTI to improve local business registration to draw more entrepreneurs

In an effort to encourage more Filipinos to put up businesses, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will be launching a localized business registration scheme that will allow entrepreneurs to register in their own localities.

According to Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo, the new scheme, dubbed BN Made Easy, will be based on four geographic divisions: barangay (village), city or municipality, regional, and national.


This new scheme further amends the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulation of Republic Act 3883, or The Business Name Law.


Under the localized scheme, a registrant could use the registered business name within the territory of choice, regardless of the number of branches or outlets to be put up within the given territory.


The DTI expects barangay-based businesses, which comprise 95 percent of all registered enterprises, to benefit from the new process, as it will significantly reduce the number of man-hours devoted to registration.


In an earlier interview, Trade Undersecretary Cristino Panlilio said the DTI has been rallying all its regional offices to make their areas as business-friendly as possible, to encourage people to put up businesses and invest in the country.


He said the DTI would be holding national conferences to ensure that all of its personnel had that ``business-friendly, investor-friendly’’ mindset.


In the Board of Investments, for example, he related that the application process for investments has been streamlined, cutting the previous 20 days required to process an application to just 10 days.


"The BOI is always open to entertain and immediately process applications for investments. We also have the Nerbac (National Economic Research and Business Action Center) to help investors start their businesses here,’’ he said.

Nerbac, the frontline service of the BOI and the successor of the One-Stop Action Center, generated P10 billion in potential investments from 19 firm leads in the first half.

During the period, the Nerbac provided assistance to 635 potential investors via face-to-face counseling, telephone conversations, and e-mail exchanges. (PDI)

For more news on DTI please visit http://tradeneconomydti.blogspot.com/ http://tradeneconomydtiact.blogspot.com/

Thursday, October 7, 2010

BOSS in Dumaguete launches friendly business processing

The Business One-Stop Shop (BOSS) in Dumaguete City will be formally launched on October 7 at 10:30 a.m. at the City's Sanggunian Session Hall, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) provincial office here announced.

The B.O.S.S. is an all-in-one venue that houses the mandatory government agencies in charge in the issuance of business permits, licenses and registration, among others.

DTI Information Officer May Liza Sevilla said this project aims to cut down the time, money and effort usually needed to secure or renew business permit and allows enterprises to complete all business requirements at one time.

The event is an offshoot of the partnership of the City of Dumaguete with Negros Oriental government, Negros Oriental Business Development Foundation (NOBDF), Negros Oriental Investment Promotion Center (NOIPC), Negros Oriental Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NOCCI), and Department of Trade and Industry, in collaboration with the Bureau of Internal Revenue, PAG-IBIG, PHILHEALTH and SSS.

The creation of the BOSS in Dumaguete is also seen as a relevant step towards sustaining employment, which is foremost in President Benigno Aquino's agenda to create a friendly investment environment in each province.

President Aquino earlier cited the lack of infrastructure, changing government investment policies and bureaucratic red tape as major economic concerns that he will address to attract investors.

In his first briefing with the Malacanang Press Corps, the President said corporations eyeing the Philippines as an investment location often complain about tedious processing of their applications and other documentary requirements caused by bureaucratic red tape which is a bane to investments promotion.

All business starters and expanders are now encouraged to avail the services of the Business One-Stop Shop. (PIA/JCT)




For more news on DTI please visit http://tradeneconomydti.blogspot.com/ http://tradeneconomydtiact.blogspot.com/