Exporters from the Visayas provinces have begun exploring business potentials in Canada in their bid to try other markets amid slow growth in the export sector.
Six exporters from the gifts, toys and housewares (GTH) sector from the provinces of Cebu, Bacolod and Bohol visited Canada from April 19 to May 3 under the auspices of the Canadian Executive Service Organization-Business Advisory Program (Ceso-BAP).
Timothy Moiket, Ceso-BAP country manager, said the trip was intended as a follow-through for these companies, which have been assisted by their program for the past eight years.
Moiket said the companies need further assistance to penetrate markets such as Canada and the United States.
“The philosophy is to have a complete and concrete cycle of assistance for small and medium enterprises. They need to improve products and operations,” he told Cebu Daily News.
“With the improvements, they will have the capability to better deal with both the domestic and international markets,” Moiket added.
Eddy Ares, executive director of Cebu-GTH Foundation who was one of the delegates, said the trip gave them an idea about the Canadian market and enabled them to identify their competitors.
Charmaine Ong, marketing director of handicraft company – Angel Whispers Inc., said she observed the Canadian market is similar to the Cebu market.
“They have the money but like Cebu, they want value for the money. As exporters, we need to educate them that we have products which they need,” she said.
Ong said Canada follows the United States in terms of trends in the GTH industry with most stores found to sell products manufactured in China and Vietnam.
Ong said the company is currently working on possible tie-ups with some Canadian stores where they can display their products.
In a phone interview, Bohol Processed Food and Delicacies Association (Profoods) founder Anton Pernia said prospects are high for Bohol-made processed foods in Canada.
“Our products such as broas (lady-finger cookie) and kinatluan (heart-shaped cookie) have been receiving orders from abroad. Our products have stories to tell so they sell,” he told Cebu Daily News in a phone interview.
He said during the recent trip to Canada, Lovlawos and Whole Food, which are high-end supermarkets, have expressed interest in ordering products from them.
Other members of the delegation to Canada were Profoods president Arnold Labunog, and Herminia Tongson and Elfrena Gonzaga of the Garments Manufacturers Association of Negros Occidental.
Although the Ceso-BAP program ended last March 2008, Moiket said companies can still consult volunteer advisers for assistance and market advisories.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Exporters study Canadian market
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment