OTOP Visayas Holds 3rd Trade Fair in Cebu on Nov. 12-16

Expect five days of pure local goodness as the Visayan leg of the ONE TOWN ONE PRODUCT (OTOP) holds its third annual fair at SM City Cebu Atrium this November 12 to 16, 2008.

Entrepreneurs hailing from different corners of Visayas will be putting their local goods up for sale.

Products for sale are souvenir items, novelty items, gift items, home decors, natural fiber, processed food, footwear, wearables to include fashion accessories, bags, shawls, headgears and many others.



The marketing event is focused on the OTOP products of various municipalities in the Visayas highlighting the tourism and market potentials of Central Philippines which attracts more than half of foreign tourists in the country.

An intra-regional exhibit like the OTOP Visayas Island Fair is a good opportunity to showcase the best of the Visayan Islands.


OTOP is one of the priority programs of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to promote entrepreneurship and create jobs in the countryside.

OTOP encourages the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to produce and market distinct products or services using indigenous raw materials and local skills of every municipality or city.

While DTI is the project’s marketing arm, OTOP is a “collaborative” effort of all sectors in the society, including local government units (LGUs).

Executives of the Local Government Units (LGUs) take the lead in identifying, developing, and promoting a specific product or service which has a competitive advantage.


The DTI through the Provincial Offices and the SME Development Group assist the LGUs in identifying the specific product and coordinated other forms of assistance from other government agencies such as the Departments of Agriculture (DA), Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Interior and Local Government (DILG), Science and Technology (DOST), Tourism (DOT) and the Technical Education Skills Development Authority (TESDA), among others.

Package of assistance include business counseling, skills and entrepreneurial training, marketing, and introduction of appropriate technologies.

Cebu now number 1 emerging BPO destination according to worldwide survey

Southeast Asia’s Cebu City, Philippines, emerged No. 1 on the Top 50 Emerging Global Outsourcing Cities list, followed by the Chinese cities of Shanghai and Beijing respectively.

The choice of the city has become more important than the choice of the country to set up an outsourcing center, according to a study by CyberMedia’s Global Services and investment advisory firm Tholons.

Cebu City currently hosts at least 17 BPO companies (Accenture, Convergys, eTelecare, Sykes Asia, PeopleSupport) and its strengths lie in key processes such as customer service, finance and accounting and HR services. The Filipino city received top ranking for its high literacy rate (97%), strong infrastructure and excellent quality of living which means better workers and lower staff turnover.

Six Indian cities are recognized as among the well-established Top 8 global outsourcing centers, namely Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune. Ireland’s Dublin and Makati City from the Philippines are the other two destinations.

In addition, the study has identified the top 50 Emerging Cities for Western companies sourcing IT and BPO services, out of which 19 are from Asia (6 cities among the top 10) and 13 from Central and Eastern Europe.

China has emerged as a strong contender in offering product development, R&D and testing with Shenzhen ranked 10th, Dalian at 16th, Guangzhou at 23rd and Chengdu at 37th position.

Shanghai is already known as a mature destination for providing offerings such as F&A (finance and accounting), product development, R&D (research and development) and testing, and Guangzhou is known for engineering-services. Outsourcing services such as application development & maintenance and business analytics are now being offered from Shenzhen and Shanghai respectively.

Three of the above-mentioned six Chinese cities appear in the emerging top 10 while India is represented by Kolkata (6th), Chandigarh (12th), Coimbatore (17th) and Jaipur (31st). The other Asian city in the top 10 is Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

There are 5 newly-emerging outsourcing hotspots in Asia making their first appearance on the 2008 Top 50 list - Quezon City, Philippines (21st), India’s Jaipur (31st), Singapore (36th), China’s Chengdu (37th) and Mandaluyong in the Philippines (45th).(trendsniff)

Cebu lands on global tourism map as venue of World Tourism Forum

The conduct of the five-day United Nations World Tourism Organization (UN-WTO) International Tourism Forum in Cebu next week highlights the province as an ideal tourism destination in this part of the region.

Tourism Usec. Phineas Alburo recently bared the international forum on tourism development puts "Cebu on the global map on tourism as an ideal place for international gathering."

Almost 500 participants consisting of parliamentarians and local authorities from 135 UN-member nations are expected to attend the event which will be opened by no less than President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on October 22 at Shangri-La Mactan Island Resort and Spa in Lapulapu City.

Alburo said the UN-WTO global forum is similar to the 12th Asean Summit but on a smaller scale. The Asean Summit was also held in Cebu in January 2007.
The gathering to be held here as mandated by President Arroyo is mainly due to the success of the Asean Summit, according to Alburo.

The tourism undersecretary once again appealed to the Cebuanos to support the government and show the foreign visitors the popular Filipino hospitality and be courteous at all times.

Alburo said he has met with top officials of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB-7) and the Cebu Taxi Association for the latter's cooperation and support as he asked taxi drivers not to overcharge the foreign visitors who might want to explore Cebu on their own.

The foreign delegates will be treated with two complementary tours namely the historical and cultural tour and the other will be an industrial tour. Cebu's old-age museums and other historical attractions will be showcased as well as an array of fashion accessories of export quality as they go on a site tour of export companies that cater on fashion jewelries, this is learned.

A book featuring Cebu, its history and tourist attractions as well as other significant information with brilliant photos of some of the tourist spots will be given to each delegate as a souvenir which is one means to promote the province and maintain its strength as the favored international tourism haven among foreign visitors, this is said. (PIA)