Cotabato traders to showcase exotic fruit products in Cebu

Cotabato-based traders and farmers are bringing their exotic fruit and other products to Cebu to widen their market exposure in the international gateway of Southern Philippines.

Organized by the Provincial government of North Cotabato, through the Cotabato Province Investment Promotion Center (CPIPC), the fair which is set to open today at the SM City Trade Hall, will highlight the bountiful harvest of tropical fruits and highland vegetables, world class products developed and produced in the province.

The two-day fair dubbed "North Cotababo Fair and Fruit Festival" will also promote the tourism destinations in the province as well as potential tourism investment opportunity.

Also supported by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the PNOC-EDC, this is the first time the North Cotabato government initiated this aggressive marketing effort to promote the province's highly potential products and tourism advantages.

The fair also currently showcase the province's flourishing business enterprises, government and non-government organizations (NGOs) innovations and initiatives that have brought changes in the lives of North Cotabateños.

Exotic fruits like Durian and Marang from North Cotabato take center stage in the North Cotabato Fair and Fruit Festival at SM City Cebu September 23-25.

In the last six years, North Cotabato has graduated from being among the ten poorest provinces in the country to become Region XII's favorite investment area.

The province registered a total of P397.49 million worth of investments in 2004, ranking second only to General Santos City. This meant a 113 percent leap in investments, the biggest in the region as of February 2005, record from DTI-12 regional office showed.

CPIPC has recorded total investments of P901 million in North Cotabato from 2000 to 2004, generating 68,595 new jobs, and making it the leading province in job generation in the region, according to DOLE-12.

The North Cotabato Fair and Fruit Festival is supported by the Department of Agriculture, Department of Land Reform, Department of Tourism, Landbank of the Philippines, Lapanday Foods Corp., Dole-Stanfilco, Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM), Philippine Airlines, Asian Hybrid Seed Technologies Inc., and the Municipal Government of Magpet, North Cotabato.