CENTRAL Visayas is gearing towards achieving a vibrant and creative economy by empowering local designers, artisans and craftsmen for the One Town, One Product (Otop) program.
Asteria Caberte, Regional Director of the Department of Industry (DTI) in Central Visayas, said their agency continues to support the local designer pool in Cebu to help micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
“Design has always been a challenge especially for Otop entrepreneurs. Otop is mostly MSMEs and that's why we're putting on so much resources to address this,” she said.
Otop is a priority program for MSMEs as the government’s customized intervention to drive inclusive local economic growth to business owners.
She said the budget for the region is remarkable as the government sees the creative potential in Cebu.
The national budget this year for the Otop program is P90 million, 34% of which is for intended for product development and design.
For 2018, the program nationwide generated P1.08 billion in sales in all 16 regions, Leon Flores III, Otop Program Manager and Conference Director said.
“We were able to hit that mark because we were able to increase the marketability of our products,” he said.
It has also produced 9,000 to 10,000 product under Otop since 2017.
Flores reiterated the region received constant support from local government units and the private sector.
DTI initiated the 2019 national design conference Tuesday, May 28, 2019 to equip product designers commissioned for the Otop project on various learning areas to include design trends, packaging standards, labeling requirements, intellectual property, market trends and business outlook.
Multi-awarded Cebuano designer, Kenneth Cobonpue, a keynote speaker also gave a talk to encourage designers in setting trends for Filipinos to soar in the global market.
“Create designs that are different and that matter. Make designs that set the trend and that sells for a long time and combines form and function,” Cobonpue said.
Around 200 designers and MSMEs attended the conference. (JOB/SunStar Cebu)