DAVAO CITY – Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) from all over Mindanao will gather to showcase their products and services during the Mindanao Trade Expo (MTE) 2015 on August 14-20 at the Abreeza Mall here.
MTE Foundation, Inc. (MTEFI) president Rosevic del Rosario-Cembrano, in a statement to the press, said the exhibit will continue to be a platform for locally-produced products to get promoted and noticed by institutional buyers.
The trade fair is said to be a gallery of craftsmanship of local skills and talents of designers, highly competitive products and potentials from the abundant raw materials found in Mindanao.
“This is already the 20th year of MTE. Through the years, it has sustained its commitment to continuously provide an avenue for Mindanao products to expand their market. In fact, a number of our MSMEs here have found their institutional markets by joining MTE,” said Cembrano adding that MTE has already cornered P1.3 billion of cash, booked and under negotiation sales and promoted a total of 2,545 MSMEs.
Cembrano also said MTEFI has identified four raw materials as a priority for development this year until 2016 including water hyacinth, bamboo, coconut and abaca fiber.
“Through MTE 2015, we shall be able to launch the potentials of water hyacinth in Carmen, Davao del Norte. This will probably solve the flooding problem in the area especially that the lake will already be cleaned up by coming up with world-class products out of the water hyacinth,” she said.
“There are so many opportunities to tap, only if the government and private sector would continuously work together. If without each other’s support, we will lag behind our ASEAN neighbors,” Cembrano said.
MTE 2015, which will be attended by around 100 MSMEs, is supported by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), local government unit (LGU) of Davao City, Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (Philexport) and Abreeza Ayala Mall. (davaotoday.com)
