Sandugo expo ‘to highlight resilience’

EIGHTY exhibitors from Central Visayas and Mindanao are expected to participate in this year’s Sandugo Trade Expo in Bohol.

Asteria Caberte, regional director of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) 7, said yesterday that this year’s trade expo will serve as a platform for earthquake-affected small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to showcase their products to potential buyers, especially in the tourism industry.

“The expo will be a venue to showcase the resilience of SMEs. This activity will help them spread the word that they have recovered from the calamity and to show to the global market that they are back to business,” said Caberte.

She said that for this year, they are looking at linking the packaging products produced by the SMEs to the tourism players. DTI, she said, has already handed out invitations to hotel players even to the Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu. On top of this, Caberte added they will also showcase the green products produced by the sector as a result of the intervention of the DTI and European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines through the German funded agency, GIZ.

Bohol was hit by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in October last year. Among those affected export support industries was the weaving industry.

On July 1, the province of Bohol kicked off the month-long Sandugo Festival, a cultural festivity that commemorates the historic blood compact between Spanish conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and local chieftain Datu Sikatuna in the 16th century.

This year’s Sandugo Trade Expo will anchor on the theme, “Gearing up for Asean 2015.”

The expo which will also be attended by Cebuano export players will feature locally made products ranging from furnishings and fixtures to wearables, novelty items and fashion accessories, as well as fresh and processed food.

“We picked Asean as a theme because we aim to level-up the sector for the new challenge,” said Caberte.

The five-day expo which will start on July 23 to 27 will be held at The Block, Island City Mall in Tagbilaran City. Aside from the Bohol and Cebu exhibitors, the trade event also invited other participants from other provinces in the Central Visayas as well as neighboring provinces in Visayas and Mindanao.

A workshop and seminar on Green Economic Development will be conducted by the German Agency GIZ Promotion of Green Economic Development (ProGEd) on July 25.

Caberte said they expect this year’s trade event to be as successful as last year’s.

“We are excited about this year’s trade because we will also see products that were produced out of the shared service facility (SSF) that we have rolled out in Bohol,” said Caberte. She was referring to the Tubigon Loomweaving Center SSF in Pinayagan Norte, Tubigon that was awarded with P4.76 million worth of SSF project by the DTI.

The Tubigon Loomweavers Multi-purpose Cooperative was given upgraded handlooms that are designed to develop bigger and wider woven fabrics.

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