THE Department of Trade and Industry Cebu expects to earn P12 million from a P2-million budget for the next phase of its One Town One Product project.
The department introduced yesterday the OTOP Next Gen, a program they assure will aid micro and small enterprises.
The OTOP Next Gen program allows towns and communities to distinguish, support and promote locally made products and services where they are best known.
It targets various markets and helps enterprises promote and improve on their brands.
In the assessment, consultations, and triage session for OTOP Next Gen held at the City Sports Club, Cebu OTOP Consultant Leon Flores III emphasized that the “real challenge of OTOP Next Gen is to upscale” and to consider different factors that keep the demand high.
With a budget of P2 million, DTI targets to help 100 MSMEs and earn P12 million in Cebu for 2018. DTI is enhancing its OTOP program by introducing OTOP products to the commercial market.
With this, Go Lokal! stores, pop-up stores showcasing OTOP products, are introduced to commercial malls.
According to DTI-Cebu Director Ma. Elena Arbon, there are no Go Lokal! stores in Cebu yet but DTI is negotiating with Ayala Malls to host a Go Lokal! store and OTOP Hub to get more products closer to consumers.
“Last year’s sales generated from all our initiatives was at P120 million. For this year’s sales for OTOP (alone), we already earned P5 million from the Sinulog Fair last January,” Arbon said.
OTOP Next Gen develops not just global branding for Philippine products but provides opportunities to MSME owners to compete in the commercial market.
According to the DTI website, OTOP Next Gen’s goal is to level up products and services, building on the gains of the OTOP first generation.
The reboot is to allow towns to have more than one product and shift to being more market-oriented and innovation-driven. (Elitz Alia Caballero, CNU Intern)