In a rather shrinking world and an ever-expanding international market, the Filipino ingenuity and touch of class continue to attract attention.
And why not? Just setting foot at the 71st edition of Manila FAME at the World Trade Center recently already gave an awesome impression of grandiose, as if being ushered into a different country or a lobby of a grand hotel of some sort.
Referring to the regale and classy showcase FINALI presented, owner Mr. Bong Salazar noted just by being in the exhibit was already an achievement for him and co-owner, Mr. Angelo Cadungog, who was responsible for their highly-impressive designs.
“We have been exporting for a couple of years. We have clients in the US, Europe, Asia and even locally. We’re doing mostly now hospitality projects for the US,” Mr. Salazar noted.
FINALI’s creations have also been contracted in Coron, in Palawan, in Iloilo and in Mactan International Airport.
“We always put the word competition in a good way, because it makes us more creative. It makes us feel like somebody is running after you. That’s where our creative juices come from,” he confidently said.
Mr. Salazar concedes other countries may have their own advantages in a very competitive industry, but FINALI’s designs and creativity are truly working towards their advantage.
“The main advantages we have is that aesthetically-wise, creatively-wise and our flexibility enable us to compete globally. We are in a different niche market, compared to other Asian countries, because aesthetically, we are in a different category already,” he noted.
At the Manila FAME, FINALI already received dozens of inquiries about its products, since the first day of the 3-day event, like those from Kuwait, Qatar and Japan.
Manila FAME 2023 was organized and launched by the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), after three years. In those pandemic years, CITEM held online expos where buyers were still able to access Phillippine products and designs.
CITEM Senior Trade and Industry Development Specialist Pinky Parra said the face-to-face event was just brimming with excitement.
“It’s very exciting. A lot of our exhibitors are very excited, and so are trade buyers, who come from all over the world. This is especially so, because we have a lot of new products and a host of new exhibitors,” Ms. Parra said.
CITEM’s existing website was still put to a very efficient use as a launch pad for buyers preview and choose products they are going to be interested in, at the actual f2f event.
“It’s different when you see the products on screen, than when you see them up close. So we have a fameplus.com, which is our website. We really encourage our buyers to discover the brands through this website.
Then they come here to see them up close and talk to the people who made the products up close and interact with them personally.
So I think a lot of our visitors and buyers, when they come here, they already know what to expect; they already have a list of exporters they have in mind. But when they see everything here, it’s a surprise. They come to see more than what they came here for,” Ms. Parra gladly shared.
Among Manila FAME’s new exhibitors, she said, were micro, small and medium-scale enterprises or MSMEs, which local governments and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) regions support.
These, Ms. Parra said, are looking forward to the day they themselves can also be exporters.
CITEM is the export promotions arm of the Department of Trade and Industry.
