Eight companies under the Regional Interactive Platform for Philippine Exporters (RIPPLES) Plus Program will exhibit their products at the 69th Manila FAME scheduled on 25-27 April 2019 at the World Trade Center (WTC) Metro Manila in Pasay City. The RIPPLES Plus Pavilion will measure 72 sqm of curated space with defined company display areas.
The program is jointly implemented by the Department of Trade and Industry-Export Marketing Bureau (DTI-EMB) with the DTI-Regional Operations Group (ROG) together with other Trade Promotions Group (TPG) Agencies/Bureaus composed of the Bureau of Domestic Trade Promotion (BDTP), Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), Design Center of the Philippines (DCP), and the Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC).
It intends to expand the supply base of internationally competitive Philippine export products and services and to provide intensified, purposive and practical assistance geared towards the internationalization of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and expand the global export market opportunities for large corporations.
The RIPPLES Plus Program aims to support SMEs and has worked on increasing the number of internationally competitive local products and services exporters with EMB at the helm. There are two modes of interventions to ensure that the companies are competent and export-ready under the Philippine Export Development Plan (PEDP). These are: Mode 1) Global Export Advance Resource (One-on-One Consultations, Focus Group Discussions, Technical Working Group, E-commerce, Client Servicing, Mutual Recognition Agreements, Trade Facilitation, Policy Advocacy and Product Development); Mode 2) Strategic Marketing and Promotions (Inbound and Outbound Business Matching Missions, Branding and Mainstreaming).
Joining this April Edition are: Beyond Borders (handwoven inabel products), Chlio & Company (baskets, lockers, garden & outdoor accessories, home accents), Gifts and Graces Fair Trade Foundation, Inc. (baskets, home textile, toys, kitchenware, stationery, pillows), Hubog Craft Philippines Co., Ltd. (paper mache, sinamay, abaca scruncch, abaca bogs and boxes), Kayvaluganan Handicraft Makers Association (decorative boxes, figurines, jars, vases, tabletop and wall décors),, Pumiceunlimited Ventures (planters, pots, garden and tabletop accessories, bath accessories made of lava rocks), RC Woodworks, (wood works and metal works, custom-made furniture, cheese boards, food boards, wooden crates, wooden storage boxes) and Silya Home Furnishings (wooden stools, wall arts, 3-layer tray, industrial lights, home décor). The exhibitors are based in Metro Manila, Regions 2, 3 and 4-A. These are manufacturers of housewares and furnishings.
Manila FAME is the country’s premier design and lifestyle event organized by the DTI through the CITEM. It is the 2nd longest-running trade show in Asia-Pacific and is the only trade event in the country that is approved by Union des Foires Internationales (UFI), or the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, a Paris-based association of trade fair organizers.
It promotes the Philippines as a reliable sourcing destination for high-quality and design-oriented home, fashion, holiday, architectural and interior products. It supports local small- and medium-scale enterprises and artisan communities by working with local designers to create new product collections and providing a professionally managed platform to present export products to the global market.
As part of the show, CITEM has also conducted product development activities through its “Design for Export Program” (DEP) for all RIPPLES Plus exhibitors. EMB and CITEM aim to put the exhibitors-enrollee’s experience at the heart of new innovations through DEP of CITEM, purposely for exhibitors to adjust to new market trends and requirements and expand market access.
CITEM’s efforts to increase the global competitiveness of the country’s gifts, décor, and houseware sector are in line with the government’s latest target—to grow the sector by 20 percent in the next five years. The Board of Investments identified more than 2,400 handicraft enterprises in the Philippines. Majority of those are MSMEs located in the NCR, Cordillera Region, Region 5, and Region 12.
“The Export Marketing Bureau (EMB) highlights the contemporary design concepts featured in the RIPPLES Plus pavilion as part of the action agenda of the program to expand the supply base of Philippine export products manufactured by export ready MSMEs from different regions in collaboration with the private sector organizations, CITEM, DTI – Regional Operations Group, Foreign Trade Service Corps, Bureau of Domestic Trade Promotion, Design Center of the Philippines and Philippine Trade Training Center”, said Anthony B. Rivera, Assistant Director of DTI-EMB.♦
Date of Release: 24 April 2019