Zamboanga No. 1 seller in olive oil sardines

Mindanao's small and medium sized companies made some major sales at the recent Yamang Mindanao trade exhibit.

Trade officials said the businesses earned some P40-million in cash and booked sales for 128 mostly small producers who participated. DTI records showed products from Region 9 (Western Mindanao) topped the sales at nearly P19 million followed by Region 12 (Southwestern Mindanao) at P17.2 million.

“The exhibit sales was realized through the purchase and bookings made by 29 institutional buyers from Europe, the United States, Manila, Cebu and walk-in buyers from the area,” the trade and industry deparment said.

The best sellers included sardines in olive oil (Zamboanga City), organic muscovado (Pres. Quirino, Sultan Kudarat), banana tissue (Federation of North Cotabato Banana Farmers, Inc.), processed cashew and mango products (South Cotabato), driftwood furniture (Sultan Kudarat) and tuna value-added (General Santos City).

"Exhibitors presented their companies and products to a panel of interested buyers. Outright orders, negotiations and bookings took place right there and then," she said.

Delegates to the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area Joint Cluster Meeting for Tourism Development also graced the event.

Some 40 small-and-medium enterprises from Region 12, 30 from Region 10 (Northern Mindanao) and Caraga, 23 from Region 11 (Southeastern Mindanao), three from Region 9, and two from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao participated in the trade exhibit. There were also two guest exhibitors from Region 8.

A total of six seminars or training programs were also conducted during the duration of the event to enhance the capability of the SMEs in the area and make them more competitive in the market.

These include seminars on financing programs (Small Business Guarantee Fund Corp., EU Funding Windows and National Livelihood Support Fund); Applying for Organics Certification and Market Opportunities for Organics Products; Potential Export Channels for Value Added Marine Food Product, Challenges and Improvements and; Seminar on ISO 22000: Food Safety Management System.