By Myrtle Faye Solina / Food and Agri-Marine Division / DTI – Export Marketing Bureau
07 March 2018
Published also in Business Mirror
In Photo: Participants from different industries and regions in the Philippines and the training program coordinators join officials of the Hinrich Foundation of Germany, Leipzig University, and officials of the Department of Trade and Industry’s Export Marketing Bureau (DTI-EMB), Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC), and the German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GPCCI). Seated in first row, beginning third from left: Hinrich Foundation Program Director Alexander Boome, Dr. Utz Dornberger of Leipzig University, DTI-EMB Assistant Director Agnes Legaspi, PTTC Executive Director Nestor P. Palabyab, GPCCI Executive Director Peter Kompalla and PTTC Acting Deputy Executive Director Elizabeth Manuel (second row, fifth from left).IN support of President Duterte’s “AmBisyon Natin 2040,” the collective long-term vision and aspirations of the Filipino people for themselves and for the country in the next 25 years, the Export Marketing Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has intensified its assistance to local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) through its Regional Interactive Platform for the Philippine Exporters (Ripples) Plus program.
Ripples Plus is a focused program that aims to expand the supply base of internationally competitive Philippine export products and services and to provide intensified, purposive and practical assistance geared toward the internationalization of MSMEs and expand the global export-market opportunities for large corporations.
Ripples Plus aspires to develop both the products and the exporters themselves through program strategies which encompass four modes of assistance: training and capacity building; marketing and promotion; support for innovation, product development and design, access to markets through mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) and certifications.
In 2017 the Ripples Plus assisted 408 exporters and implemented 33 marketing and promotional activities geared toward the development of products and exporters themselves.
“I was one of the lucky MSMEs who benefited from the Ripples Plus Project Tracks 1 and 2. For the Track 2 project, the conduct of the product development included the translation of the text of the chichacorn labels in Arabic language. This will open new export markets of my chichacorn products specifically in the Middle East Asia countries,” said Clemencia A. Padre, owner of Ilocos Food Products in Region 1.
“Our participation to the various trade and exhibitions and fairs allowed our cooperative to open new markets and new opportunities. Orders have increased from Manila- and Cebu-based exporters and converters. The DTI, through the Ripples Plus, made us generate a total sales of P6.40 million for 2016 and P5.06 million for 2017,” said Ma. Trina V. Sumayang, general manager of Tubigon Loomweavers Multipurpose Cooperative.
This year the program aims to undertake targeted and more aggressive export promotion for priority industries, such as food and agri-marine, services, and industrial sectors.