MSMEs net P.7M on trade fair

By Bobby Q. Labalan

Sorsogon City --- Local producers in the province earned P715,118.00 in the trade fair during the recent annual national convention (ANC) of the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA).

Data provided by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Provincial Office showed that 38 medium, small and micro enterprises (MSMEs) participated in the three-and-a-half-day fair held at the Sorsogon Provincial Gym and the Sorsogon State University (SSU) Covered Court.

DTI Provincial Director Malou Pancho said the trade exhibitors were food processors who had a sale of P517,350 and non-food producers, mostly handicrafts, who had a combined sale of P197,768.

The PICPA ANC was held November 22-25 in various venues in the city and was attended by almost 4,000 delegates from all over the country.

Pancho said the event, the biggest held so far in the province in terms of participants, “provided Sorsogon MSMEs an opportunity to showcase the best of Sorsogon products and its craftsmanship”.

Sales picked up right on the first day of the convention as the delegates flocked to the registration sites where the local producers also displayed their products, the DTI official said. “All were praising our local products, both food and food”.

It was a significant help to the Sorsogon producers in selling their products which are of proven excellent quality, Pancho added, as she thanked PICPA for choosing Sorsogon as the venue for this year’s convention.

Joseph John Perez of Fruits, Frozen and Essentials said the event boosted their start-up business and taught them “valuable insights and technical inputs” and cemented the strong relationship and camaraderie among MSMEs in the province.

Meanwhile, Bobby Gigantone, head of the Sorsogon Provincial Tourism and Cultural Affairs Office (SPTCAO), lauded the holding of the PICPA convention as it immensely boosted local tourism bringing huge economic benefits to local communities.

Though the SPTCAO had no official data yet on revenues generated by local business in the province, Gigantone said that meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) events always “contribute massively” to local tourism and bring positive impact on the local communities.

He, however, admitted that there is a need to upgrade the MICE local service providers to ensure quality service to tourists saying “hindi pwede ang pwede na”.

More investors are needed for the province’s tourism and hospitality sector to increase the carrying capacity as the provincial government is poised to bid aggressively for more events to be held here, Gigantone stressed.

The SPTCAO is set to strengthen the campaign for mandatory accreditation of establishments and training of personnel of industry frontliners, he added.