DTI Region 11 ends ’22 with ₧7.2M in Christmas trade exhibition sales

DAVAO CITY—TRADE exhibitors in a year-end product exposition raked in P7.2 million in sales and booked negotiation, as the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Region 11 said the bigger accomplishment came with the successful participation of small businesses that underwent its mentorship program last year.

The DTI said that it partnered with the Mindanao Trade Expo Foundation Inc. (MTEFI) in holding the MTE Christmas Edition, dubbed as “Buy Local By Lokals” at Abreeza Mall here from December 14 to 18.

“The DTI ended 2022 with a trade fair that raked in P7,250,903 in sales. This is the total for retail/ cash, booked, and under negotiation,” it said.

Some 130 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMES) participated in the December trade exposition, of which 110, or 85 percent of them were from Davao Region. Their products range from fashion accessories to gifts, decors, furniture and fixtures, and processed foods.

DTI 11 Regional Director Maria Belenda Q. Ambi said 61 of the featured exhibitors from the region were Kapatid Mentor Me (KMME) graduates who occupied the 12 booths provided by DTI for each of its six provincial and field offices throughout Davao Region.

“Apart from rallying our campaign called Buy Local By Lokals, we also highlighted the KMME program,” she added. She added the theme was part of “the endless campaign of the agency to entice people in supporting local products.”

The KMME is a 10-module mentorship program “that optimizes weekly face-to-face and virtual interactions between the mentor and the mentees. The key goal here is to boost their entrepreneurial capacity through improved access to mentorship, money, and market,” Ambi said.

She said the KMME exhibitors were already qualified, “if interested to participate in high-level trade events, such as the National Trade Fairs organized by the Bureau of Domestic Trade and Promotion [BDTP] annually.”

To prepare them for the trade fairs and widen their markets, DTI 11 has provided them with necessary interventions, including intensive product development packages, seminars and training activities, Ambi said.

“We at DTI ensure that we provide interventions according to our MSMES’ needs. Aside from our inhouse specialists on the different facets of the business, we have also partnered with various industry leaders and experts to prepare and improve them more,” Ambi said.

Ambi added that DTI will continue to assist local MSMES “until they reach their full potential and corner more institutional buyers here and abroad.”

As of December, DTI 11 has already assisted a total of 26,036 MSMES in the region. This is 103 percent of its annual target of 25,200.