BACOLOD CITY: A bigger OTOP (One Town, One Product) lifestyle store is showcasing more products made in Negros Occidental inside the Ayala Malls Capitol Central in this city.
Set up by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in 2021 as a marketing arm for Negrense products for a limited time, the small hub of 30 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) had grown into a store with 106 exhibitors to date.
‘The best thing about the operation is the dedication and passion of the management team and the synergy among the OTOPreneurs,’ DTI-Negros Occidental provincial director Lynna Joy Cardinal said on Monday.
The OTOP Lifestyle, previously called OTOP Provincial Trade Fair, is the first OTOP hub inside a mall.
The Negros Export Industry Corp., led by the mother and daughter tandem of Maria Lily and Micah Rosquillo, manages the store.
The store, with a floor area of 180 square meters, is wider by 40 square meters than the previous location in order to accommodate the increasing number of products for di
splay, such as processed food, agri-based products, arts and crafts, and home and fashion/creative artisanal.
The OTOP Lifestyle is under the DTI’s OTOP Next Gen component that aims to promote inclusive economic growth.
Cardinal said that based on the success of the store in Bacolod, the management of the Ayala Malls plans to put up an OTOP store in all their shopping malls across the country.
She credited the success of the OTOP store here to the collaboration among exhibitors, DTI and other partner government agencies.
‘We leverage the power of partnership. We are grateful and will continue to say thank you for the support of the provincial government and other supporters. It is also because of the continuous assistance given by the different agencies and the local government units,’ the DTI official said.
Cardinal said the convergence of support and assistance will give Negrense OTOPreneurs more reason to strive to create and innovate.
‘We, at the DTI, look forward to the continued success of the OTO
P Lifestyle to have its share in the upliftment of the MSMEs, creating jobs and driving economic growth in the whole of Negros Occidental,’ she added.
Source: Philippines News Agency
