CITEM steps up marketing effort for FAME

MANILA, Philippines - The rise in the country’s export of home and fashion lifestyle products has served as the greenlight for a government marketing arm to step up its promotional campaign and give the local creative design industry a firm hold of the foreign market amid signs of a global economic uptick.

This move by the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) was inspired by the combined six percent share of apparel, clothing accessories, woodcraft and furniture in the December 2010 total exports, posting a whopping aggregate increase of 70.6 percent to $251 million from only $199.72 million the previous year.

 “The significant increase made apparel and clothing accessories the country’s third top earner, and woodcraft and furniture the fourth, indicating a marked recovery of the export market that the local creative design industry should take advantage of,” said CITEM executive director Rosvi C. Gaetos.

 “This development appeared to be, not just a one-time phenomenon, but a consistent trend since the country’s top 10 exports reached $3.093 billion, accounting for 74.3 percent of the $4.162-billion total December 2010 outbound shipments that recorded a 25.3-percent increase from its year-ago level of $3.321 billion,” Gaetos said.

For the full-year 2010, Philippine exports rose to $51.393 billion, up 33.7 percent from $38.436 billion in 2009.

“This emerging recovery of the world market for home and fashion lifestyle products puts CITEM in a stronger position to push Philippine exports at the forefront of the global marketplace.  For that purpose, we are bringing in some 2,000 foreign and local buyers to view our product exhibits during the staging of the Manila F.A.M.E. International at the SMX Convention Center on April 16-19,” Gaetos pointed out.

Now on its 53rd year, the Manila F.A.M.E. International is one of the longest-running tradeshows in Asia Pacific for lifestyle products, and the only event in the Philippines accredited by Paris-based association of trade fair organizers Union des Fores Internationales.

More information on Manila F.A.M.E. can be obtained from CITEM (tel. 8312201 to 09, fax 8323965, 8340177; email [email protected]; or visit www.citem.com.ph)