Exporters brace for rebound through innovative strategies

CEBU, Philippines - Preparing for the global market rebound, the export industry will arm its members with strategies by strengthening the network, involving raw materials supplier and manufacturers.

In celebration of the Exporters’ Week, the German Technical Cooperation-Small and Medium Enterprise Development for Sustainable Employment Program (GTZ-SMEDSEP), Department of Science and Technology (DOST) 7, Department of Trade and Industry-Cebu Province and Philexport-Cebu will hold an Exporters’ Conference and a Materials R&D Conference on December 2, 2009.

Two important events will be highlighted during the Exporters Week, this is the Exporters’ Conference, to be held from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Dec. 2, will be held at Cebu Parklane International Hotel and the Materials Research and Development (R&D) Conference will begin at 1:30 p.m. of the same day, at the Cebu Furniture Industries Foundation (CFIF) Building in North Road, Barangay Jagobiao, Mandaue City.

The Exporters’ Conference, part of the celebration of Exporters’ Week, will run on the theme: “SME competitiveness through innovation.” The conference seeks to prepare the export industry for the upswing in the global market, through innovation in technology, materials, and marketing strategies, among others.

The Materials R&D, on the other hand, aims to help export industry players—those in the furniture, fashion accessories, and gifts, toys and houseware (GTH) sectors—explore various opportunities in materials manipulation and development, as well as technology applications, to maximize their design capabilities and increase their competitiveness in the global market.

The Materials R&D Conference is an offshoot of a DOST 7 project whose main objective is to develop an inter-regional value chain to support the furniture, fashion accessories and GTH industry sectors.