By Nelly Nita N. Dillera
Contributor

THE 16 micro, small and medium entrepreneurs who participated in the recently concluded National Trade Fair (NTF) at the SMX Convention Hall, Mall of Asia in Manila earned more than P12 million in cash, booked and under negotiated sales.

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) regional director Ibrahim K. Guiamadel said this made Central Mindanao the top seller nationwide, generating as much as 22 percent of the total sales during the fair.

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Rank 2 and 3 were Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) with P7.08 million or 13 percent of the total, and Central Visayas with P6.4 million or 12 percent of the aggregate.

The national total sales was pegged at P54.3 million as per report made by the organizer, DTI-Center for International Trade Exposition Mission (Citem) and DTI-Bureau of Domestic Trade.

Central Mindanao participants were Kablon Farm Corporation, VMotril Food Products, South Valley Foods, Angel Joy Foods, Ninos Foods, Cresing's Coffee, Coco Wonder sugar, KM Foods, RIC Malapatan, Cotabato Banggala (using inaul), MKM Brasswares, Klowil MPC, Banga Cornhusk, Gensan Gardeners, Frivas Enterprise (cornhusk), Mindanao Coco Fiber.

The region’s top sellers are semi-processed craft materials like coco fiber, tinalak cloth/rolls and corn husk twines, fetching millions worth of orders.

Other best sellers are high quality corn husk decorative and functional items, processed tuna variants like chorizo, siomai, embutido, rolls, etc., and dehydrated vegetables like powdered chili, ube and squash.

NTF '09 Debriefing

Generally, the objectives of the participants, such as launching of new products, gaining domestic orders and getting new customers, market observations, were realized.

Three participants shared that they "have orders that will keep me busy for two years because I got booked orders for a minimum of 10 tons of my product per month."

To ensure that these orders are met, DTI arranged an NTF '09 debriefing among the participants recently. Those who shared difficulties in supplying the demand shall be closely monitored.

Strategies to be undertaken by the DTI are to employ more people in the firm, subcontract the job to skilled workers from other areas or training, but at the same time maintain quality control.

Those whose products were negotiated for exports were closely briefed on documentation procedures in exporting, as well as other legal requirements in entering the export trade.

NTF '09 Learning

While some MSME participants did not bring home big cash sales, they noted the exposure and experience was worth the trip. Cotabato banggala was featured at a national daily, while Banga cornhusk was featured on national television.

Some buyers were even generous in "helping us look for cheap packaging suppliers, shared experiences on how to export their products, recommended cheaper but unique materials to be used with the existing raw material, and suggested equipment to use to improve productivity."

The gathering of about 200 entrepreneurs from all over the country also gave our local MSMEs an opportunity to learn from the designs, color trends, pricing and other product and customer relations observations.

The National Trade Fair is an international fair organized by the DTI through Citem and Bureau of Domestic Trade to create product awareness; survey the latest product lines, mixes and designs; open doors to building future relationships with customers and media; and carry out market research in terms of demand situation, main consumers and existing price level.

The impact of trade exhibitions on the economy generates new entrepreneurs and employment, contributes to local income and taxes, and raises local and regional pride.