ILOILO CRAFTS. A weaver from Panay-Bukidnon, an Indigenous Peoples (IP) from Calinog, Iloilo, displays her craft at the Artesanias de Iloilo Trade Fair held at the Northpoint of SM City Iloilo, on Wednesday (Oct. 23, 2019). The 'first trade fair with a brand' seeks to feature Ilonggo ingenuity, DTI Assistant Regional Director Ermelinda P. Pollentes said. (PNA photo by Perla G. Lena)
ILOILO CITY -- Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Iloilo have been encouraged to run with the campaign of the Department of Tourism (DOT) pushing this city as a destination for MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences/conventions, exhibitions/events).
“This is a challenge to MSMEs. If you have a strategic location for your production centers, then you might also consider setting up your own pasalubong centers in those strategic areas,” Ermelinda P. Pollentes, assistant regional director and concurrent provincial director for the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), said on Wednesday.
In her message during the opening of the five-day first Artesanias de Iloilo Trade Fair in SM City here, Pollentes said that MSMEs can consolidate by getting products from fellow MSMEs because the market for MICE is wide.
“There is a dearth of ‘pasalubong’ (souvenir) centers. So there is really a need to establish more pasalubong centers,” she said.
Pollentes reminded MSME participants of the need to be present online in response to innovation. She said that they need not compete with each other; instead, they can have their own niche even online.
She said that one market with a huge purchasing power is the millennials.
“Let us continue to level up because in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, there is really a need to also level up. That is why we have all these support services for you,” she said.
In an interview, Pollentes said the event that will run at the SM City Northpoint until October 27 is the “first provincial trade fair with a brand.”
“We would like that Ilonggo ingenuity will also be featured and also be leveled up. That’s why we would like to have this annual Artesanias de Iloilo because in the modern world, we should not forget the culture, arts, and crafts of Iloilo,” she said.
The exhibit gathered 50 exhibitors from the food and craft sectors, as well as beneficiaries of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.
They are regular clients of DTI-Iloilo with the potential to grow, Pollentes said.
The five-day fair targets to generate some PHP3 million in sales.
During the program, DTI also presented the Bagwis Award to 33 establishments for upholding consumer rights. (PNA)
