P1 handicraft wins Best Seller Award in OTOP Philippines Trade Expo

Loomwoven items of Bohol won the Best Selling Product Award during the recently concluded OTOP (One Town, One Product) National Expo 2011 held from September 21 to 25 at the SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City.

P1 Handicrafts, a manufacturer of loomwoven raffia rolls, placemats, table runners and coasters, had the highest product sales during the first OTOP National Expo.

Organized by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the trade fair garnered sales and booked orders of around Php 44, 852,407.

Central Visayas which sold food and non-food items during the fair recorded sales and booked orders of Php 9,727,864 at the end of the five-day national event.

Boholano traders reported total sales of Php 8, 659,928 while Cebu was Php 1,067,936.

Region 7 participants included: Carcar United Footwear Manufacturers Association, Inc., Elda Sheels Trading, Ferangeli Guitar & Handcrafters, Gloanse  Enterprises, Hannah’s Handicraft, Maexel Chi-cha Bites &  Snack Food, Michael's Concepts Int'l., Lola Pureza’s Inc., Tubigon Loomweavers MPC and P1 Handicrafts.

The OTOP National Expo brought to local buyers at least 72 provinces from all over the country in a grand showcase of purely Philippine-made products.

Various delicacies, fashionable bags, unique handcraft, accessories, fresh and processed foods, health and wellness products, among others, were on sale during the fair aimed at highlighting the best of every town in the country.

According to DTI, the products under the OTOP banner were created through the skill, knowledge, and labor of local folk, and were sourced from indigenous materials.

DTI pointed out that the OTOP national expo is a convergence of the OTOP Island fairs conducted during the last three years in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. This also marked the re-launch of another five years of the OTOP program which started in 2005 and ended last year.

DTI said that the next five years of the OTOP program will be more productive with the introduction of the Tindahang Pinoy project.

The Tindahang Pinoy was created for the private sector SMEs to own and manage, while the government provides a partial subsidy.

DTI will also provide a network of producers for the supplies to be easily accessed. The Tindahang Pinoy will sell items which are 70 percent produced locally and 30 percent from outside the region.

Modeled after Japan’s “One Village, One Product” project, the OTOP program was initiated by the Philippine government in late 2004 to stimulate economic development in the countryside and expand trade of products that banner the unique culture and tradition of a locality.

This project aims to promote entrepreneurship and job creation. It offers a convergence of assistance from the DTI, local government units, the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Science and Technology (DoST), Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) and Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the private sector.

Flagship industries were introduced by DTI as an innovation to tap a bigger market for existing OTOP SMEs and to improve their sustainability as they try to join the industry mainstream. These include Project Bayong, SPIN (Sub-contracting Innovation Partners) Program, Microwaveable Saba Banana, Bamboo, Water Hyacinth, Veggie Noodles, Fish Fillet (Pangasius), and Virtual Poultry Farming.



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