Micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Eastern Visayas are eyeing at least PHP40 million in sales during the five-day Bahandi Trade Fair in Metro Manila on Oct. 3 to 7, bringing local products to the country’s capital.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) pushed for the 25th Bahandi market fair at the SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City to allow local producers to link with institutional buyers based in Metro Manila and other parts of the country.

‘We are upbeat to meet the sales target with intensive promotion by DTI and producers. Citing our past experiences, sales of trade fairs in Metro Manila were 10 times higher than what our MSMEs earned in local trade fairs,’ DTI Eastern Visayas Regional Director Celerina Bato said in a press briefing on Monday.

Joining this year’s market fair are 158 producers from the region’s six provinces.

Of the number, 43 are from Leyte province, 42 from Northern Samar, 25 from Samar, 25 from Eastern Samar, 16 from Biliran, and seven from Southern Leyte.

‘Throug
h various assistance from DTI, they have been prepared and qualified to sell their products in Manila. About 29 percent of our participants are considered rookie exhibitors,’ Bato added.

Among the products to be displayed at the fair are peanut butter, carabao milk, ginger tea, chocolate and other cacao-based products, coconut wine and other coco-based products, moron (sticky rice cake with chocolate), binagol (a sweet treat in a coconut shell), calamansi concentrate, leather shoes, baked products, suman, native bags, and handicrafts, among others.

Now in its 24th year, the fair is anchored on the theme ‘Tradition meets Innovation.’

For the first time, several artists will be joining to sell their best artworks that depict the region’s products, culture, and destinations.

The DTI launched the Bahandi trade fair in 1998 with its first exhibit in this city.

Bahandi is the local term for wealth.

Source: Philippines News agency