Micro small and medium enterprises who are beneficiaries of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) recently concluded a four-day regional trade fair at Waltermart in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga from November 18 to 21, 2021.
The 49 trade fair exhibitors from the seven provinces of Central Luzon generated initial sales of Php 2.95 Million. Pampanga CARP sellers sold the most with a total of Php 1.57 Million while Bataan participants sold a total of Php 334,587 and Zambales sellers sold a total of Php 269,415.
MSMEs from Aurora generated total sales of Php 263,375 while Bulacan MSMEs had a total of Php 259,658 and Tarlac had P157,895. CARP sellers from Nueva Ecija generated a total sales of Php 98,143.
Regional Director Leonila T. Baluyut said that the total sales for the four-day regional trade fair is already comparable to the pre-pandemic CARP trade fair in 2019. In that trade fair, 82 participant exhibitors generated total sales of Php 3.45 Million. She added that this means buyers are already gaining more confidence to buy local products as the economy is recovering to normal levels.
Undersecretary Blesila Lantayona of the DTI Regional Operations Group said during the opening program, “To help our small entrepreneurs in the countryside, there is no better way but to buy from them, and these trade fairs which we are organizing are the best ways to help them earn. By buying from them, we are also reassuring them that our assistance to them did not go to nothing.”
Assistant Regional Director Odgie Cayabyab of the Department of Agrarian Reform Region 3 and Waltermart Vice President Jerico Buñing joined DTI-3 RD Leonila T. Baluyut and CARP Regional Manager and DTI Bulacan Provincial Director Edna Dizon during the ribbon cutting ceremonies. ARD Cayabyab pledged the agency’s continued support to the programs of DTI, especially those that will enhance the livelihood of CARP beneficiaries. For his part, Buñing expressed his confidence in the products of the exhibitors, especially with the help of DTI.
