Director Asteria Caberte of the Department of Trade and Industry in Central Visayas (DTI-7) says at least 60 products in the region will have a chance to be displayed in the Go Lokal corner of DTI’s partner malls such as the Go Lokal space in Robinson’s Place in Manila (right photo)
GO LOKAL PROGRAM
SIXTY-five products in Central Visayas have been chosen by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) as candidates for its Go Lokal Program, a free marketing platform for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) with huge market potential.
Asteria Caberte, DTI Central Visayas director, described these products as low-hanging fruits and with a “little push” could qualify for the agency’s program.
“The first priority intervention we will give to our MSMEs will be product development because we have a target market that requires specific product development to really elevate them,” she told reporters.
Under the program, the DTI made arrangements with major malls to accommodate the display of locally-made products, expose them in big traffic stores, and improve their marketability.
The 65 products, mostly fashion accessories, home décor, processed food, and wearables, were chosen from the offerings of 96 MSMEs from the region.
Caberte said this was the highest number of products chosen from a single region, which would mean products in Central Visayas are of high quality.
“This is a testament to the quality of our products here. That is my conclusion, we have the highest quality (products) in the market,” she said.
Majority of the potential Go Lokal products are from Cebu, the director added.
She said the DTI will hold a trade fair in December this year for the “soft launching” of these products.
Furthermore, Caberte said she is currently negotiating for two Go Lokal stores in the region, although she could not specify where yet.
The Go Lokal Stores project is the brainchild of Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, which recognizes one of the constraints encountered by MSMEs today—access to the market, both local and global.
This concept provides MSMEs an opportunity to go mainstream and test the marketability of their products without incurring the high costs of operating a retail outlet.
“By offering only products of quality, unique design, and compelling narratives, Go Lokal aims to inspire our entrepreneurs to level up and meet global standards. It is likewise a vehicle to discover emerging suppliers and new products with high market potential,” the DTI said in its website.
MSMEs who are interested to join the program as a supplier must offer new, never-been-in-the-market products or be willing to undergo product development with product specialists and designers from the Design Center of the Philippines.
There are currently four Go Lokal stores in the Philippines, all of which are in Luzon.
MSMEs make up 99.6 percent of the country’s total number of businesses and employ 70 percent of the nation’s workforce, making it one of the most important sectors of the economy today.