CABANATUAN CITY – Nueva Ecija entrepreneurs ranked second, next to Pampanga, when they generated a total sales amounting to P8.448-million in the recent Likha ng Central Luzon (LCL) Trade Fair.
Pampanga got P9.99-million in total sales but local trade officials here have underscored on Monday an upward trend in terms “of quality and marketability of local products.”
Nueva Ecija’s shared 27.60% of the P30.606 -million total regional sales which is lower than Pampanga’s 32.67%.
The figure is also lower than Ecija’s previous year sales of P25.584 -million. “This was however true to other provinces as the total regional sales dropped to P30.606-million from 2010’s total sales of P42.399 million,” said Brigida Pili, provincial director of the Department of Trade and Industry in Nueva Ecija.
She noted that the 13th regional fair at the SM Megamall (Megatrade Hall 2) in Mandalauyong City was held on October 19-23, 2011, a few weeks after Typhoons “Pedring” and “Quiel” wrought havoc in several Luzon areas, including Metro Manila and Central Luzon.
Some 28 small and medium enterprises from different sectors such as food and food processing, wearables, homestyles, giftwares and holiday decors, from Nueva Ecija had their products exhibited, Pili said.
She added that they initially targeted only 25 participants.
“What we can see here is that our producers are growing in terms of quality of products as well as packaging,” Pili said.
A six-year old SME, Better Country Community Corporation from Gapan City engaged in agriculture especially production of guilded rice (brown rice or unpolished rice like jasmine, dinorado, red rice, black rice and lutinous rice) and home decors topped all regional participants with a P1.539-million of combined cash and booked sales during the LCL, she noted.
This development made BCCCI a Hall of Famer after besting the fair for four consecutive years – from 2008 to 2011).
Pili attributed the growing excellence of local SMEs to consistent government and private intervention , now called public-private partnership, with the introduction of various programs like the DTI’s One Town One Product (OTOP) where the agency helps a particular community in determining what product it has to fully develop.
“OTOP had boosted the performance of micro and small enterprises as well as farmers-producers and is continuously gaining a headway in SME development in the province,” said Ely Duran, DTI_Nueva Ecija’s business development chief.
Underscoring Nueva Ecija’s vast natural resources, Pili said,the DTI coordinated with local governments and local entrepreneurs in drawingup with festivals that press producers to upgrade whatever crops and craftsthey generate.
These include Walis Tambo Festival in San Antonio town everyJanuary; Longganisa Festival for Cabanatuan City in February; Mushroom ofGuimba in March; Sibuyasan of Bongabon, Waterlily of Cuyapo, Pagibang Damara orHarvest Festival of San Jose City, Pandawan of Pantabangan, all in April;Tsinelas of Gapan City in April –May and Dairy Festival of Talavera, Llaneraans Science City of Munoz in May.
Palayan City, on the other hand, stages Calamansi festival inDecember.
The institutionalization of OTOP at the LGU level, theofficials said, has resulted to the heightened awareness of the people on it anLGU and national government’s program, continuous LGU support enjoyed by theSMEs and other stakeholders, sustained implementation of public-privatepartnership and having OTOP products improved and becoming popular.
