Thursday, July 05, 2007 Yaman Mindanao closes, registers P28-M sales
GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- Yaman Mindanao and Otop (One-Town-One-Product) Island Fair, an annual trade exhibit here, ended Monday on a bullish note, posting sales of P28 million, not to include sales in business matching sessions.
Ibrahim Guiamadel, Southwestern Mindanao director of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), said the well-attended fair indicates a growing potential of Mindanao's small and medium entrepreneurs in expanding to the global market.
He challenged SMEs to "conquer the foreign market by capitalizing on local skills and harnessing Mindanao's abundant resources."
Guiamadel also called on local government units and other agencies of government to continuously support efforts to produce more entrepreneurs, opening investment areas and generate more jobs and revenues.
The trade exhibit of some 115 display booths at the KCC Mall of GenSan was joined by some 180 producers, coming from different provinces and cities in Mindanao. Some 148 of the sellers were Otop producers.
The fair featured an array of products that include processed foods, jewelry, fashion accessories, furniture, garments, handicraft and many other items that drew foreign and domestic institutional buyers.
Top sellers in the four-day trade exhibit under food category include the YY Sea International Corporation of Western Mindanao (Zamboanga Peninsula) which took bulk orders from a company in China for its bottled Spanish sardines; Sunnish Coffee of Eastern Visayas (Caraga) for its innovative rice and corn beverage; and KM Foods of Central Visayas (Southwestern Mindanao) for its value-added tuna products.
On the non-food category, South Sea pearl crafter Tezoro del Mar of Western Mindanao posted the highest sales, followed by another Western Mindanao exhibitor K6D Infinite Fashion and furniture maker Wild Trend Woodcraft of Caraga region.
The fair also cited exhibitors De Lara Agsam Novelties of Caraga for having the best product (non-food) in the fair - a necklace weave with pearl. The weave is made from agsam vine and rattan strips laid with pearl.
Also cited for having the second best (non-food) product is a rug made from abaca bark and fiber by Top Zion Handicrafts, also of Caraga Region.
For food category, the best product went to Region XI's Lucille's Food Products for its Calamansi Carrot Concentrate.
Second place on the best product food category were shared by Southern Mindanao's Magsaysay Farmers' Multi Purpose Cooperative for its organically-produced Mag Rice and YY Sea International Corp. for its bottled Sabroso Spanish-style sardines. (RGRebollido)
