As part of its Bamboo Development Program, the Dept of Trade and Industry yesterday turned over some P146,000 worth of machinery and tools to Buglas Bamboo Institute (BBI) in Maayong-tubig, Dauin. The machinery included rip saw, drill press, side press, electric sander and some power tools. Last November and December, BBI was also the recipient of skill trainings which included Safety in the Workplace, Basic Woodworking and Carpentry, and Jig Making.
One of the components of the Bamboo Development Program is to supply the Dept of Education with bamboo desks, chairs and teachers tables so the grant will boost the capability of Buglas Bamboo to supply schools especially here in Negros Oriental using engineered bamboo.
After the turnover, a Memorandum of Agreement was signed between DTI and Buglas Bamboo and messages of support were given by DTI 7 Regional Director Asteria Caberte and Dr. Emigdio Omictin representing the DepEd City Schools Division Office. Buglas Bamboo or BBI is headed by the father and son team of Frans and Jobert Koerkamp.
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The Department of Trade and Industry Central Visayas Regional Office (DTI 7) is planning to hire on a contractual basis an IT Specialist for the regional office.
According to DTI 7, applicants to the position must have at least an Associate’s Degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Computer Engineering or related vocational course.
Applicants must have extensive experience on hardware troubleshooting, sufficient experience in network troubleshooting and knowledge in structured cabling.
Experience with MS Windows 7, MS XP, MS Office 2003, MS Office 2007 is needed while knowledge in software development is an advantage.
Those who qualify are advised by the agency to submit an application letter with bio-data to DTI 7 regional director Asteria C. Caberte, DTI-7 Office, 3rd Floor, WDCBuilding, cor. P. Burgos and Osmena Streets, CebuCity.
For more information, applicants may call on the DTI 7 Human Resource Development Officer Rebecca C. Basilla at tel nos. 266-0036 or 255-0037 loc. 402.
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With Christmas just around the corner, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) reminds consumers to only buy Christmas lights that bear the Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) mark to ensure a hazard-free holiday festivity.
DTI Secretary Gregory L. Domingo states, “DTI alerts the public to be vigilant and extra cautious in choosing the Christmas lights they buy and adorn in their homes so as not to put the lives of their loved ones in danger.”
”Only those sets of Christmas lights with the ICC mark sticker have passed DTI’s mandatory safety tests, thus these products are safe and reliable to use,” stresses Secretary Domingo.
DTI regulates the sale of Christmas lights in the local market to protect consumers from the hazards posed by substandard products such as electric shock and overheating that often lead to fire, property damages and even loss of lives.
Under the DTI-Bureau of Product Standards (BPS) Product Certification Scheme that is based on the Department Administrative Order 05:2008, all importers of Christmas lights shall secure an ICC certificate prior to the sale and distribution of their products in the local market. Only those whose products have successfully complied with the requirements based on the Philippines National Standard on Christmas lights (PNS 189:2000) are appropriately issued with the ICC Certificate and are allowed to affix the ICC stickers on their products or product packages.
Secretary Domingo emphasizes, “The ICC mark is in sticker form and comes with a unique serial number. Those sets of Christmas lights with pre-printed ICC mark on its package are definitely uncertified and did not undergo proper tests and inspections of the Department.”
DTI Consumer Welfare Undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya explained, “Other import labels that consumers should check on the package of Christmas lights are the manufacturer’s / supplier’s / distributor’s name, address and trademark or brand, rated voltage and rated wattage of the set; rated voltage and rated wattage of the lamp; the words,”For indoor use only”; the number of this standard (PNS 189:2000); and the batch/ lot number or bar code.
Undersecretary Maglaya added that to further guide consumers on the proper use of the product, each set of Christmas lights should have suitable warning such as, “do not cascade / attach more than three (3) sets of Christmas lights to avoid overloading”, “disconnect from supply before removing or inserting any lamp”, “avoid damage to wire”, “busted lamps must be replaced immediately by lamps of the same rated voltage and wattage to avoid risk of overheating”, and “never leave plugged-on lights overnight or unattended.”
Secretary Domingo underscores, “the proper use of the product is very important to ensure that it performs as expected. Thus, consumers are urged to carefully read the instructions before installing the product to prevent untoward incidents.”
The DTI reminds consumers to buy only the following brands of Christmas lights that have passed the required safety tests of DTI:
COMPANY
BRAND
Andalucia Trading Co., Inc.
Price Mart
Filjie Trading International
Lucky Star
Golden Hit Corporation
Golden Seasons / Twinkle Star
Golden Seasons Corporation
Golden Seasons / Twinkle Star
Great Home Makers Enterprises
Lights & Shine / Joy of Lights / Hawaii Lights / Christmas Star / Yuletide Fantasy
Ikhea Lighting, Inc.
ET / GHC
Landlite Philippines Corporation
Landlite
Main Stream General Merchandise
MLA / Luck Deer
Mighty Armour Enterprises
Star
New Davao Davchi Trading Center
North Star
P&J Multitrade Venture, Inc.
Andrews
Pacific Arrow Enterprises
Good / 7 Star
Pinecrest Enterprises
Goldcrest / Pinecrest
Sheratone Enterprises
Fuji Bright & Fuji-lite
Shining East Marketing Corp.
Yuletide Fantasy / The Magic of Lights / Seasons of Lights / Super Bright / The Joy of Lights / Lights & Shine / Hawaii Lights / Christmas Star / Millenium Lights
Wan Dan Xin Trading Int’l, Inc.
Mabuhay Star
Wexford International Sales, Inc.
Diamond Bright
Xing Long Import Enterprises
Rainbow
Consumers may report stores selling Christmas lights without ICC marks to DTI Direct 7510-3330 or to the nearest DTI Regional and Provincial Office. For more information on Christmas lights www.bps.dti.gov.ph.
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Two years after the Subcontracting Partners for Innovation Program (SPIN) was launched, close to seven thousand beneficiaries of SPIN programs in Central Visayas have produced products for exporters worth P97.030 million.
This year, the Department of Trade and Industry Central Visayas office (DTI-7) is further strengthening the SPIN program, despite the change of leadership in government.
According to DTI Central Visayas regional director Asteria Caberte, the DTI 7 aims to provide further training for more weavers, and also extend the program to other areas.
In year 2010, 163 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) have benefited from the program. Around 23 trainings have generated 4,048 jobs.
Despite the drop of exports' orders since the global recession started, Caberte said orders are still increasing because participating export members of this program is largely coming from the gifts, toys, houseware products, and home furnishings.
Last September 9, DTI 7 conducted a Subcontracting Forum in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental with 12 exporters joining the activity including 33 Point 3 Exports, Jincastler, Prissan, AH Designs, Arden Classic, art n’ Nature, Heldred, Regalos Exim, Tambuli Fashion, Linda Colin, amer Trading and Bon Ace.
The Negros Oriental producers are now working on the purchase orders worth Php 210,000 from 33 Point 3 Exports and Php 132,000 from AH Designs.
The SPIN program, a government-private sector undertaking conceptualized in Cebu, not only generates employment for weavers but likewise assists exports in increasing production volume of exported products.
Under the program, the weavers in the countryside are made to undergo skills training on weaving and craftsmanship after which, their hand-made products are brought by the exporters once these passed quality standards.
In this way, rebel returnees and indigents can immediately earn an income after a hard day's work with their earnings dependent on the number of products they make, Caberte said.
SPIN trainings are focused on a "market driven" scheme wherein the products to be made by the trained group are actual export orders. Most exporters who do not have enough workers to do the job orders of their clients subcontract some of these processes.
Initially implemented in Central Visayas, the program started in June 2008 with only P500 thousand budget. It now benefits thousands of people and families from nine regions in the country, including regions 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, CARAGA and CAR.
Cebuano exporters mostly from the GTH sector are currently sourcing their order requirements from marginal communities around these regions, Caberte said.
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Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory L. Domingo said the income tax holiday incentive may be abolished but should be replaced with other investment perks to be able to compete with other countries for strategic industries.
Domingo said during a press conference the need to continue granting incentives to strategic industries that would not locate into the country without the incentives but not to businesses that are sure to come in even without incentives.
He said that government will have to abolish the income tax holiday, which the Department of Finance has been espousing, this could be replaced with another set of incentives to enable the country to remain competitive versus other countries.
“Our stand is not actually different from the DoF because we want to push for the country’s economic development, but we just have to be conscious because perhaps in the past there were instances that we’ve been too lax in giving away incentives,” he said.
Domingo, however, said the need to address the entire incentives structure of the government and not just the contentious ITH. He, however, did not identify these other incentives.
"There are sectors that we should push very hard on and these need incentives," he said.
The finance department already mulled the abolition of income tax incentives to investors except for export-oriented enterprises that would locate in the country’s 30 poorest provinces, a very drastic move that is already making the Board of Investments, the government’s premier investment promotion agency, fidgety.
The draft DoF proposal, which was submitted to the BoI two weeks ago, has called for the complete removal of the ITH six years after the implementation of the Fiscal Incentives Harmonization law.
For instance, if the Incentives Rationalization bill is approved in 2011, the government has 6 years only to give out incentives. By 2017, the ITH will be completely abolished.
The DoF also moves to cut the ITH coverage to a maximum of six years only from the current maximum of 8 years. Projects registered with the BoI under the pioneer status are granted 6-year ITH but with additional two-year bonus based on export performance for a maximum ITH period of 8 years. Non-pioneer projects enjoy four year in ITH.
But under the DoF proposal, which was relayed to the BoI two weeks ago, for those entitled of 6-year ITH, they would be required to pay 15 percent income tax on the 7th to 9th year and pay the regular tax rate from there on.
In coming up with this proposal, the DoF was of the belief that investments would come in even without incentives.
Already, the BoI finds the proposal as contained in a memo by Finance undersecretary Gil Beltran uncomfortable.
BoI managing head Cristino L. Panlilio said they need to sit down with the DoF.
“They are advocating stricter, less liberal incentives. We think otherwise. We are rationalizing an agreement in favor of attractive incentives. (MB)
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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.
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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 OneTownOneProductVisayasIsland 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 OTOPCenter, 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 SouthwesternUniversity 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)
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