Trade chief highlights importance of product packaging to MSMEs: Pack! Pinas roadshow wraps up before hundreds of regional entrepreneurs

Pack! Pinas final leg in Cavite attended by hundreds of entrepreneurs from the CALABARZON area. Front Row, From L to R: DTI Quezon OIC-Provincial Director Julieta Tadiosa, Commission on Audit Region IV-A auditor Delia Dojillo, DTI Region IV Regional Director Malou Toledo, Export Marketing Bureau Director Senen Perlada, Packaging Institute of the Philippines President Joseph Jocson, DTI Assistant Secretary Demphna Du Naga, Undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya, Cavite Provincial Director Noly Guevara, Carmona Mayor Dahlia Loyola, DTI Secretary Ramon M. Lopez, Undersecretary Nora Terrado, Assistant Secretary Blesila Lantayona, San Miguel Yamamura Packaging Corporation’s Virginia Robledo, DTI Trade Service Officer Ben Uy; Oryspa founder Sherill Quintana, and Delfa’s Food Products owner Isabel Punzalan.

 

CAVITE — Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon M. Lopez emphasized the importance of well-designed product packaging to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the final leg of the Pack! Pinas roadshow last 29 May in Cavite.

“As part of the mandate given by President Rodrigo Duterte to help MSMEs, DTI is applying a 360-degree approach in MSME development,” said Secretary Lopez. “Part of this is levelling up the product packaging, for it to standout in the market place.  The packaging serves also as the advertising at the point of sale.   MSMEs are not usually exposed to the latest trend, designs, and on how best to present and preserve product quality and they are often hampered by the required Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ) that limits their capability to improve their packaging, and these are the barriers being solved in these fora and expo”, Lopez said.

Cavite is the final stop of the packaging roadshow. The Visayas leg was held in Tacloban last 3 – 4 May and was attended by 508 participants, 317 of them MSMEs. Meanwhile, the Mindanao leg in Cagayan de Oro City was attended by 720 participants, 501 of which were MSMEs.

Though this round of the roadshow draws to a close, Sec. Lopez assured MSMEs that the roadshow will roll out in other regions soon.

With the aim of bringing packaging experts and suppliers closer to MSMEs throughout the Philippines, visitors during the two-day event in Cavite were treated to business matching sessions; seminars on packaging, branding, and design; and workshops and interactive training sessions.

Packaging suppliers who participated also waived their required minimum order quantity during the two-day exhibit to cater to MSMEs.

DTI also invited Oryspa founder Sherill Quintana and Delfa’s Food Products owner Isabel Punzalan to share how branding propelled their business to international success.

Quintana said that after 11 years, they were able to achieve their successes within three years because they decided to build a brand. Meanwhile, Punzalan stressed the need to gain international certifications like ISO, Halal, FDA, and others if they want to make their products world-class.

DTI is already helping select MSMEs improve their packaging through programs like Go Lokal! and One Town One Product (OTOP) Philippines, which guides entrepreneurs to improve their products and gives them market access through OTOP and Go Lokal! stores.

Pack! Pinas is a broader approach to reach hundreds of MSMEs in the different regions of the country.

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