PALO, Leyte - Souvenir items and foodstuffs made in Eastern Visayas will soon be sold in Boracay Island, one of the country's top tourist destinations.
Initially, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has listed at least seven interested stores in Boracay that would buy products from the region in the coming months.
DTI Eastern Visayas Regional Director Cynthia Nierras said that the 2nd Visayas One Town, One Product (OTOP) Fair in Boracay, Malay, Aklan has paved the way for start of trade between Boracay shops and producers here in the region.
OTOP promotes one common product for each city or municipality to boost the local economy and tourism.
During the five-day OTOP Fair last month, DTI recorded a total sales of P639, 485. Some 24 small and medium entrepreneurs in 17 towns and cities of the region have joined the said activity. All the six provinces in Eastern Samar were represented in the fair.
"Boracay is the most ideal area in the Visayas where we can market products which are ready for selling. They have found Region 8 products as very unique since it is made of new materials that they can offer to both local and foreign tourists," Nierras said
These products include mats, coco spoons and forks, dried mango, pandan bags, cookies, pastillas, cheese sticks, sweetened rice bar, raffia bags, virgin coconut oil, banana chips, coco vinegar, coco coir furnishings, smoked fish, bottled mussle, and fashions and accessories made of native materials.
These are being made in the towns of Bato, Baybay, Hilongos, Tolosa, and Ormoc City in Leyte; Maasin City in Southern Leyte; Naval, Biliran; Basey, Samar; Quinapondan, Eastern Samar; and Palapag, Northern Samar.
She told Leyte Samar Daily Express in an interview that Boracay shops have talked to local manufacturers to make trade arrangements with them. DTI expects that there will be a stronger trade relation within this year.
DTI officials have already talked to some transport companies to facilitate the transfer of products from the region to Boracay.
Nierras said that various government agencies and foreign funding institutions have been extending assistance to small-scale producers to improve their productivity and market access.
"We have been preparing our local products so that it could be marketed to areas outside Eastern Visayas," the DTI official added.
She said that there are many products in the region that have the potential of expanded market but the government has to assist them to improve processing and packaging.
