DAVAO CITY — 100 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are set to showcase Mindanao products in this year’s Mindanao Trade Expo 2009 (MTE ’09) in a bold return from last year’s absence.
MTE ’09 will be on August 13 to 16 at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Convention Hall. During the press launching, MTE Foundation Incorporated President Anne Pamintuan stressed that this year’s MTE is going to be bold as it stages a comeback from last year’s absence.
The event is embracing a special setting of Philippine Fiber, Mindanao’s way of celebrating the year of the International Fiber.
Pamintuan said the foundation saw the need to bring back this biggest trade expo in Mindanao to help medium and small enterprises cope with the harsh effects of the global meltdown. It will prove to the world that, despite the global financial crunch, trade is much alive in this part of the country.
This year, the expo is supported by different partner organizations like the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Agriculture (DA), Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM)program, Export Development Council, Philexport, USAid, and Medco.
The first MTE was in 996 and has become known nationwide and even in the global arena. It has gained the trust of about 1,590 exhibitors, 577 buyers. It has generated sales of about 630 million pesos, 51 million in retail sales; it has booked sales of 147 million pesos, with sales of 431 million pesos under negotiation. Most importantly, this annual expo has touched about 162,000 lives in the last 12 years.
This year, MTE organizers plan to generate 30 million pesos in sales and gather 50 institutional buyers and at least 100 exhibitors.
Expo organizers will also conduct a forum where different stakeholders can discuss and find remedies in facing the worldwide economic downturn. Pamintuan said that the forum is aimed at drawing up a workable roadmap that will enable the export sector to maintain their businesses even during these hard times. (PIA XI)
IMPORTANT NOTICE: INBOX is an archive of press releases, statements, announcements, letters to the editors, and manifestos sent to Davao Today for publication. Please email your materials to davaotoday@gmail.com. Davao Today is not responsible for the content of these
materials. The opinion expessed in these items does not reflect those of Davao Today and its staff. Please refer to our terms of use/disclaimer.
