APEC expo ‘opens doors’ for Mandaue SMEs

CEBU, Philippines – After the successful showcase of Mandaue City-made products at the sidelines of the recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings in Manila, business chamber leaders hope that the city will hold separate programs to benefit small and medium enterprises.

"This is a challenge to Mandaue to have a parallel plan. Expo Mandaue is just a marketing (move) for small companies to grow. The government should help them so they can improve the quality of their products," said Marlen Bedia, executive director of the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

"If this does not happen, we're just helping the established ones. We don't want to leave behind the small ones," she added.

Bedia claimed that with the two recent expos -- one in Oakridge Pavilion in Barangay Banilad, Mandaue City last August and the other at the World Trade Center in Manila -- they were able to live up to their goal of promoting Mandaue products locally and internationally.

At the WTC expo which was among the highlights of the APEC Leaders' Summit two weeks ago, she said most of the products they were able to sell were furniture pieces from big-time manufacturers.

But the purpose, she said, of the show was to also promote the small companies, in line with Mandaue's vision, which is to become a top producer of high-quality products not only for the Philippines but also for the world.

Hence, Bedia said if the recent expos have successfully promoted the city's crafts, the next task should be to ensure that there will be new pieces to show, and these, she added, must be of high quality to live up to that vision.

She said because the city wants to help the SMEs, every company, even the micros, should be in the game as "that's (one way) to grow the economy -- help the manufacturing sector.

The latest expo, according to Noreen Yu, one of the organizers, might have cost the city around P4 million, but she said its effect, especially on the SMEs, are "long-term."

She said it has opened new markets for SMEs and cooperatives in Mandaue.

Yu said if the inquiries and orders during the two-week expo will materialize, it will mean several container vans of locally made furniture pieces, fashion accessories and other products to be transported all over the world.

She said they were overwhelmed by the many inquiries from visitors, apart from orders they got from the local and international media.

GMA7's Jessica Soho reportedly bought a wall décor from manufacturer Finali, and the first lady of Hong Kong reportedly showed interest in a number of furniture sets on display.

"I think the 'Designing for the World' (theme) was achieved. We showed them that Mandaue can produce quality products," said Bedia. (FREEMAN)