Sandugo Trade Expo 2010, July 21-25

One of the country’s longest running annual provincial trade fairs will unroll the first output of the Materials Research and Development Project on July 21-25 at the Island City Mall.

Sandugo Trade Expo 2010 not just highlights the region’s unique products and services but also makes use of local ingenuity. Spotlight will be shown on locally made crafts using mixed media and new design patterns, a result of the Materials R&D Project which assists raffia weavers in Bohol.

By mixed media applications, the weavers have experimented with recycled materials, buri, abaca, old plastic twine mixed together with raffia and other indigenous materials.

From these hand-wovens, select exporter companies convert them into actual products.

More than 80 exhibitors coming from the tourism, food, fashion accessories, crafts, Gifts, Toys and Housewares in Central Visayas will participate in the Sandugo Trade Expo.

Craft producers in Central Visayas will be presenting prototypes of their work after a series of trainings and one-one–one consultations with expert designers.

The fair will also feature a raw materials gallery to afford buyers and product designers with a plethora of materials to use, and this will be complemented with craft demonstrations for the interested public.

Emerging tourist destinations in the region will likewise be showcased with packaged tours to be made readily available at the booths.

National and international buyers are expected to be present during the fair, including exporters, buying agents, wholesalers, retailers, manufacturers and subcontractors.

Booths will also be set up at the Island City Mall to display the wealth of natural wonders and the related adventure and fun activities that are available for tourists and visitors who wish to explore the following destinations on the rise.

Several government initiated or assisted programs geared towards highlighting our culture and heritage and making our local products and services globally competitive will be showcased during the trade fair.

As in the past, there will be guest exhibitors from other regions during the Sandugo trade fair.

The Sandugo Trade Expo is a culmination of a series of product development initiatives geared towards improving the quality and design of the export oriented crafts and ethnic food in the region.

Bohol’s annual Sandugo trade expo has been running every July for the last twenty one years. This fair is one of the longest running annual provincial trade fair in the country and it has already established name recall and recognition among local and international buyers,

DTI Secretary supports local manufacturers

Local manufacturers, who have been crying foul over the flooding of cheap imports in the domestic market, have found an ally in the newly-appointed Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Secretary Jesli Lapus, in a speech before members of the newly-organized Filipino Cebuano Business Club Inc. at the Sacred Heart Center on Saturday, specifically cited the plight of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the country, whose survival is at risk with the tariff-free entry of imported products to the country.

Lapus said that there must be safeguard measures put in place against the dumping of cheap imported goods to the market to protect our local industries, especially the MSMEs, from dying as well as protect the consumers from an inevitable increase in consumer goods.

“These imported goods are cheap now. But once our local industries die and there are no local products to compete with them anymore, then (importers of these products) can now sell them at a higher price,” he said

Some of our local manufacturers in Cebu such as garments and shoes manufacturers have closed shop, as they are unable to compete price-wise, with imported products.

Garment manufacturer Victor Tan earlier said in a report that the lack of regulation of imported garments, aside from the proliferation of “ukay-ukay,” which are also imported, have affected the local garment manufacturers.

Filipino Galvanizers Institute president Salvio Perez also said in a national report that China’s exports of subsidized pre-painted and galvanized steel sheets to the Philippines are hurting the local industry.

Meanwhile, Lapus said the DTI is now working on the MSME Development Plan for 2010-2016, the successor plan of the MSME Development Plan for 2004-2010. Lapus said he will ensure that provisions for more business development services to strengthen the MSMEs in the country will be put in place.

Lapus, former secretary of the Department of Education, is a professional manager in the manufacturing and financial sectors. He has post-graduate studies in the fields of Investment Appraisals and Management and Management of Transfer Technology, among others.

He served as undersecretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform under the administration of the late President Corazon Aquino and as chief executive officer and vice chairman of the board of directors of the Land Bank of the Philippines under the administration of President Fidel V. Ramos. (TF)

DTI & PCE CONDUCT NEGOSYO SEMINAR FOR MSMES, APRIL 15

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) announced that there will be a free seminar for budding and potential micro, small and medium entrepreneurs which will be held at the Cebu Grand Majestic Convention Center from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., on April 15, Thursday, this year.

In coordination with the Philippine Center for Enterprises (PCE), the seminar will cover topics such as How to Start a Business, Finding Business Opportunities and Choosing the Market for Your Business, The Best Methods for Sustaining Growth, Developing and Innovating Actual Products and Services, Marketing Your Business, Funding Your Business and Managing Your Finance.

According to the DTI, the seminar is anchored under the spirit of private-public sector partnership and on a mandate to create more entrepreneurs thereby increasing livelihood and employment opportunities for the marginalized sector.

Seminar speakers and lecturers are chosen from the business sector by the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship –Go Negosyo.

Participation to the seminar is on a first come, first serve basis. For reservation and more information, interested parties may call on the DTI Provincial Offices: DTI-Cebu tel nos. (032) 412-1863 or 253-2631; DTI-Bohol tel nos. (038) 411-3302 or 501-8260; DTI-Negros Oriental at tel. nos. (035) 225-4781; 422-1764; DTI-Siquijor at tel nos. (035) 344-2238 or 480-9065.

In today’s global economy, our entrepreneurs need the skills and capability to manage resources in a highly competitive and fast changing environment.