Thursday, November 13, 2008 DTI confident Otop Visayas products will sell here, abroad
AS a fair featuring different products from the Visayas opened at SM City Cebu, officials of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) continue to be optimistic about the prospects of locally produced goods in the local and international markets despite the global financial crisis.
Trade Undersecretary Merly Cruz said that as long as One Town, One Product (Otop) products have established their niche markets, their marketability is assured.
“It all (goes down to creating) a niche. Besides, the products we have here are not luxury items,” she said in a press conference following the opening of the 3rd Otop Visayas Island Fair at SM City Cebu yesterday.
“Products (that will continue to sell even during the crisis) are those that are useful, mga essentials like the ones we have here,” said DTI 7 Director Asteria Caberte. She added that Otop products are also affordable for local and foreign buyers.
The 3rd Otop Visayas Island Fair showcases a wide variety of products and services, including items made from sinamay, raffia, piña (like Barong Tagalog), buri, wood and coconut shells, as well as native food delicacies from the Eastern, Central and Western Visayas regions.
Domestic market
DTI 6 Director Nic Abad, for his part, said the trade department is also helping local government units (LGUs) and entrepreneurs who are participating in the Otop program establish a domestic market base for their products.
Domestic consumption will sustain the sales of local producers even if there is a decline in exports due to the global
financial crisis, he said.
Caberte said exporters in Central Visayas expect a 20 percent decline in revenues this year as global markets have softened.
Still, she said she expects about P30 million in booked orders for various Otop products showcased during the fair that will run until Sunday.
Caberte said this year’s Otop Visayas Island Fair is expected to make more revenues because it is held here in Cebu where there is a bigger market.
Last year’s Otop Visayas Fair, held in Boracay, raked in only P3.4 million in sales, even smaller than the P4.1 million reported in 2006.
Elias Tecson of DTI 7 said this year’s fair involves 160 exhibitors, higher than last year’s 140.
During a Kapihan Forum with the Philippine Information Agency, Tecson said there is a huge market—locally and internationally—for Otop products in the Visayas.
The challenge, though, is to meet demand and to improve product packaging, he said.
To cope with these challenges, the DTI helps local government units (LGUs) and participating entrepreneurs by providing trainings on product development and good manufacturing practices.
He cited a manufacturing and packaging technology that extends the shelf life of native bodbod (a delicacy made from sticky rice that has an elongated shape) to six months to one year. Bodbod, which comes wrapped in banana leaf, usually gets spoiled after a couple of days if not refrigerated.
Leah Gonzales, head of the DTI 6 trade and industry division, said many micro and small entrepreneurs who produce Otop products have difficulties meeting growing orders.
This is why, she said, those in Western Visayas ask manufacturers from other regions to help fill the orders.
Overall, though, the implementation of the Otop in the Visayas is “very much successful,” said Tecson, adding that many local government executives are receptive to the program.
“(But) many have this ‘to see is to believe’ attitude, so we bring them to observe the successful ones. That’s why we have benchmarking,” he said.
Tecson stressed that Otop promotes micro enterprises in the countryside and provides livelihood to hundreds of families in the Visayas and in the country in general.
The Otop fair does not only showcase the unique products that LGUs have identified to be promoted by the DTI. The event also features products of individuals and communities under the DTI’s Sub-contracting Partners for Innovation Program, which aims to create employment and livelihood opportunities for those who live in former conflict zones. (LAP)
