DTI sets furniture fair to push local designs

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is holding the Sikat Pinoy National Furniture and Furnishings Fair as it seeks to position the Philippines as a design and innovation hub in the Asia Pacific region.

“We will once again conduct a domestic fair solely to promote furniture and furnishings and build up the country’s position as a steady supplier of quality and innovative products,” DTI Undersecretary Ponciano C. Manalo Jr. said in a statement yesterday.

Through the fair to be held from Nov. 5 to 9 at the Filinvest Tent, Alabang in Muntinlupa City, the DTI seeks to provide marketing support to the country’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the furniture and furnishings industry and promote innovative products designed by Filipinos from various regions of the country.

 “We intend to make known Filipino artistry and design ingenuity not just in the domestic market but also in global market,” Manalo said.

This, as the increasing share of non-electronic products in the Philippines’ total exports, particularly furniture and fixtures, indicates rising demand for Filipino products from foreign buyers.

From January to August this year, total exports reached $40.7 billion. Merchandise exports for the eight-month period went up by 9.2 percent compared to the same period in 2013, while non-electronic exports like furniture and fixtures grew 44.1 percent compared to the same period last year.                       – Louella Desiderio

 “Instead of competing with the low-end or mass produced products, we are encouraging our furniture manufacturers to shift to medium and high-end products wherein we have a competitive edge in terms of quality and design,” Manalo said.

 “We want to emphasize local communities’ age-old skills combined with innovation and use of home-grown resources to craft globally competitive products,” he added.

Given the construction boom in the country, the Sikat Pinoy fair also serves as a venue to display fine crafted and designed furniture and home accent products of SMEs.

The fair is the fourth edition of the DTI’s Sikat Pinoy fairs for this year.

The DTI is organizing domestic trade fairs under the Sikat Pinoy brand to promote the country’s SMEs, a sector seen to be a key contributor to economic growth.