AROUND 72 small and medium business owners participated in the first-ever trade fair organized by the Talisay City Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCCI) which started on Friday, June 17, 2022.
The trade fair, which was held at the Talisay City Hall, will run from Friday until Sunday, June 19.
Cyril Velasco, TCCCI president, said of the 72 business owners who participated during the trade fair, around 30 percent are from Talisay City while 70 percent are from neighboring towns and cities.
Local businesses operating in Talisay City and in other areas in southern Cebu not only sold food but also other products.
Velasco thanked the Talisay City Government for allowing them to hold the trade fair for free.
Velasco said he noticed that businesses in the city of Talisay, especially the food sector, have started to recover from the effects of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic and from Typhoon Odette (Rai) that hit the city on December last year.
Velasco said they were supposed to hold the trade fair a few years back but it was postponed after the Covid- 19 pandemic struck the country.
“Our theme for the trade fair is about ‘the way back to normal.’ We business owners should show that we need to go back to normal and bring back progress in our city,” Velasco added, in a mix of Cebuano and English.
Aside from stalls selling food and other products, the trade fair also features nightly activities, including a cosplay contest and a live band.
Jumpstart
In a statement posted on his official Facebook page, Talisay City Mayor Gerald Anthony “Samsam” Gullas Jr. urged his constituents to help promote the city’s local businesses by attending the trade fair.
Gullas even urged interested visitors to help promote the trade fair through social media as a way to get more people to visit and help promote businesses who are participating there.
“Our local businesses need our help to jumpstart especially after suffering losses during the Covid-19 pandemic. With our City now at Alert Level 1, let’s do our part to help increase economic activity by buying our ‘sariling atin’,” Gullas added. (BBT, JKV / TPT)