Monday, July 07, 2008 202 entrepreneurs to join 3rd Otop Luzon Island Fair
ANGELES CITY -- In celebration of the Third One Town, One Product (Otop) Luzon Island Fair 2008, about 202 small and medium entrepreneurs will showcase their world-class, high-quality products at SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City from July 9 to 13.
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Central Luzon Director Blesila Lantayona said the annual event promoting Otop products is part of the government's commitment to strengthen micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
The participants, she said, will come from Regions 1, 2, 3, 4A, 4B, 5, Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and National Capital Region (NCR). The fair will feature a wide range of products from furniture and furnishing, gift and house ware, processed food, fashion accessories, footwear, novelty products, arts and craft and more.
Lantayona added that the event is also in time with the celebration of the MSMEs Week commemorated every second week of July.
Among the 202 participants in this year's Otop Luzon Fair, 36 will come from Region 3. These entrepreneurs will showcase clothes and accessories, gifts and holiday decors, processed food, and home furnishing. Out of the 36, 10 will come from Bulacan, two from Aurora, four from Bataan, eight from Nueva Ecija, six from Pampanga, three from Tarlac, and three from Zambales.
Lantayona said San Fernando's Parol or Christmas lantern would be the region's Otop model in this year's event.
"We are encouraging everyone to support this event. Please visit SM Megamall on July 9 to 13 and buy our world-class certified Pinoy-made products. Let us support our micro, small and medium entrepreneurs," she said.
Otop Philippines is a priority program of the government to promote entrepreneurship and create jobs. "Through public-private sector partnership among National Government agencies (NGAs), local government units (LGUs) and MSMEs, Otop highlights the diversity as well as the distinctiveness of every municipality through the development and promotion of handcrafted products which have competitive advantage," Lantayona said.
According to Lantayona, Otop-Philippines offers a comprehensive assistance package through a convergence of services from LGUs, NGAs, and the private sector. This includes business counseling, skills and entrepreneurial training, product design and development, appropriate technologies and marketing, she added.
The assistance program targets MSMEs with an asset of not more than P100 million, which account for about 99 percent of business establishments.
The concept of Otop Philippines is an adaptation of Japan's successful One Village One Product (Ovop) project, which was started in 1979 by Governor Morihiro Hiramatsu of Oita Prefecture as form of people's participation in the regional development of that country.
Its success prompted other countries to adopt the concept in their own areas as an effective tool for poverty alleviation, particularly in the rural areas. Otop has been established in Thailand, Vietnam, Malawi, Cambodia, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Indonesia.
