BAGUIO CITY — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is scaling up its product-support program for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the Cordillera region.
Arthur Joel Tibaldo, DTI information officer of the Cordillera Administrative Region or CAR, said Friday the government’s continuing trade support for local enterprises is being “raised to the next level” in the upland region through the One Town One Product (OTOP) Next Generation program, or the conduct of product assessments and consultations with the region’s MSMEs.
Last week, the so-called Assessment, Consultation, and Triage (ACT) session under the OTOP program had a pilot run in Baguio City. Ten MSMEs from the province of Benguet had a one-on-one consultation session with professional designers and brand experts to further improve their products, branding, labeling, and marketing.
The activity, Tibaldo said, was also attended by the DTI Provincial OTOP point persons in the Cordillera for replication of the same activity in all provinces of the region.
In 2017, DTI-CAR assisted 279 MSMEs and developed 342 products in the region, resulting in the generation of PHP26,505,785 in total sales.
The sales included those from the “IMPAKABSAT” Trade Fair at the Festival Mall, Alabang, Muntinlupa City in the first quarter of the year.
“We are highly encouraging our MSMEs this year to take advantage of the presence of our brand experts and designers. It is important for our MSMEs to clearly set their business direction and adapt to evolving market needs,” said DTI-CAR Officer in Charge, Assistant Regional Director Grace Baluyan.
“DTI is providing market access opportunities, such as trade fairs, Go Lokal!, and now the OTOP Philippines Hub, where the best of our local products will be exhibited and sold. It is important that we open our minds and hearts, innovate, and modernize in terms of design, learn from our customers, and seek ways to scale up, so we can meet the demands of the market.” Tibaldo quoted Assistant Secretary Demphna Du-Naga of DTI Regional Operations Group as saying.
Du-Naga encouraged the local MSMEs to “aspire to compete with the best in the world.”
He also quoted OTOP National Program Manager Leon Flores III as saying the OTOP is a strategic program to develop pride of place and for localities to focus on products where they could be best.
Tibaldo added that the private sector and local government units are encouraged to take their OTOP seriously to build enterprises and generate more jobs.
In 2017, the OTOP program assisted 6,519 MSMEs to develop and improve 4,960 products nationwide. The DTI officials said the government hopes to boost this in 2018. (Liza Agoot/PNA)
