DTI slates 'Ilonggo anay' trade fair

Local products from Iloilo's micro entrepreneurs will take center stage in the forthcoming micro-enterprise trade fair dubbed “ Ilonggo anay” Ilonggo-First Trade Fair 2005 on September 8 to 11, 2005.

DTI-Iloilo Director Diosdado Cadena, in a radio interview, said the four-day trade fair will give the community-based micro-scale producers in this city the opportunity to showcase and promote their homegrown products.

“The trade fair is called Ilonggoanay which means Ilonggo first or Ilonggo first and foremost anything else”, disclosed Cadena.

He said that 34 micro-entrepreneurs have already signified their participation in the trade fair. “The set-up of the exhibit will be by district, so all the micro-entrepreneurs in the six districts of the city will be encouraged to participate and sell their products during the fair.

Cadena noted that Iloilo is famous for its good food like its delicacies. He said that almost all the six districts of the city have their own distinct products to feature and promote. “Jaro district is famous for its biscocho, Molo district for its pancit molo and Lapaz district for its Lapaz batchoy which is known all over the country while Arevalo district is also noted for its good food like its lechon manok,” Cadena said.

Other products that will be on display are novelty items, woodcraft, handicrafts, souvenir items, food preserves and many more.

The exhibit will be held at the SM City Iloilo Lower Ground Level and will be formally opened on the morning of September 9. The project is an initiative of the office of Councilor Jed Patrick Mabilog, Chairman of the Iloilo City Task Force on Economic Promotion and supported by the Office of the City Mayor, DTI, SM City and the H.A.L.I.G.I. Foundation, Inc.

“Through this exposure the micro-entrepreneurs might be discovered and eventually will become big and become substantial contributors in the country's economy, “said Cadena.

The project is also in line with the city's “One barangay-One product” program to attain the economic vision of the city to be a Premier City by 2015.

To recall, one of the priority livelihood programs of the present administration is the One Town One Product-Philippines (OTOP-Philippines) to promote entrepreneurship and create jobs. This is patterned after Japan's One Village One Product (OVOP) project. OTOP has already been established in Thailand, Vietnam, Malawi, Cambodia, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Indonesia as an effective tool of poverty alleviation particularly in the rural areas. (PIA)