Aklan entrepreneurs to showcase world-class products
BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

KALIBO, Aklan - To showcase the craftsmanship and uniqueness of Aklan products, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will be opening the 2010 Aklan Product Showcase in SM City Iloilo Event Center three weeks from now.
The yearly showcase of 28 exhibitors from Aklan is slated on November 15 to 21 to feature the world-class products such as bayong, nito, abaca and engineered bamboo crafts, processed meat and bakery delicacies, and piña loom woven fabrics.
Last year, the showcase generated P2.87-million cash sales and booked orders, the DTI said. The product display is organized by DTI in cooperation with the Hugod Aklanon Producers Association and the provincial government of Aklan.
It will also promote the handmade paper crafts, ornamental plants, furniture and furnishings and home decor from Aklan's small and medium entrepreneurs and producers to cater to prospective local and international buyers.
DTI has been helping entrepreneurs to showcase homegrown products in Aklan through trade fairs and exhibits and to penetrate the export market, especially the engineered bamboo, one of the eight One Town One-Product (OTOP) flagships of DTI.
In partnership with the Aklan Chamber of Furniture Industries, Inc. and the Product Development and Design Center of the Philippines, the DTI held a seminar for bamboo manufacturers on new product designs on bamboo crafts last August.
The prototypes utilizing engineered bamboo slats and bamboo poles combined with other native materials such as wood and nito, including new designs of 'bayong' made of indigenous materials and known in Aklan as 'tampipi' will be featured in the Aklan Product Showcase, now in its 8th year.

This year, DTI targets 10 percent hike in sales of home-made products in the leading annual showcase in Iloilo.