Europe's top dep't store chain sends buyers to Phl

MANILA, Philippines - Europe’s top department store chain is sending two of its export buyers to Manila to check out the best that the Philippines can offer.

This was announced by executive director Rosvi C. Gaetos of the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) after a sales mission in Spain where she met with the top executives of El Corte Ingles, Europe’s leading international department store chain.

“El Corte Ingles will send buyers from its offices worldwide to the Manila FAME (Furnishings and Apparel Merchandise Exchange) International for the first time after a very long absence,” said Gaetos who had sent a personal invitation to their chief executive officer.

The acceptance of Gaetos’ personal invitation and El Corte’s decision to send two of its buyers to visit Manila FAME indicates renewed interest in Philippine lifestyle exports.

Slated at the SMX Convention Center on Oct. 16 to 19, Manila FAME is the country’s premiere international trade show on lifestyle exports that include design-intensive home and fashion products and accessories made of innovatively-crafted indigenous materials.

Manila FAME serves as the venue for CITEM’s international wholesale marketing and promotion of Philippine creative products.

“These export products stand to gain wide global consumer market exposure through El Corte Ingles, which is bigger than the Galeries Lafayette and Marks & Spencer in Europes,” Gaetos pointed out.

She said El Corte’s home décor manager Jose Campana decided to send two of the company’s buyers to Manila FAME to check out the marketability and reliability of supply of Philippine lifestylel exports.

At the same time, CITEM is tapping Regalo Fama for next year’s Manila FAME. Regalo Fama is the association of Spanish manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers of gifts and housewares.

Similarly, CITEM is pursuing prospects of collaboration with DI-MAD, an association of designers and artists in Madrid, which can help out in making Philippine exports highly marketable to the Spanish market.

Earlier, United Kingdom’s Marks and Spencer, Australia’s Freedom, and USA’s Hallmark Cards, Crate & Barrel, Roost, Kalalou, Leahy Global Resources, Natori Co. and Material ConneXion have confirmed their participation in Manila FAME this October.

Expected to join them in Manila FAME are delegates from another 101 foreign firms from Australia, India, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, United States, Spain, Finland, Italy, Sweden, Singapore, Turkey and Vietnam.