A total of 65 micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) put up their stalls to promote and sell different food and leather products, sweet delicacies, winery, chips, and more.
DTI ensures that the products exhibited in the Gawang Otso have undergone product development and improved packaging design, providing quality and affordable products to the customers.
Among the products highlighted is the Island’s Best Calamansi Concentrate of Agriehwells Marketing Cooperative in Eastern Samar, as it is Halal certified.
Rosario G. Amoroto, general manager of the Island’s Best Calamansi Concentrate, shared her story of establishing the business.
“We started as a home-based business in 2004, then got the DTI registration in 2009 and a Halal certification in 2021. We urgently responded to the overharvesting problems of the Kalamansi on Homonhon Island in Guiuan, helping our fellow farmers earn more market in return,” Amoroto said in dialect.
DTI product fairs like this help Amoroto’s small business to grow and even compete in the national arena as their business ventures in well-known supermarkets in Metro Manila and local distribution in Tacloban City.
Local intricately designed products like woodcrafts, handicrafts, shellcrafts, and furniture were also proudly displayed at the fair with several designs and sizes to choose from.
MSMEs continuously receive technical support from DTI, Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Agriculture (DA), and others, including financial initiatives given by some government officials, as these entrepreneurs continue to generate volume sales for production.
