The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said 30 local coconut exporters of virgin coconut oil and coconut flour will benefit from export marketing and market linkages training to be implemented from April to December 2023.
DTI Assistant Secretary for Trade Promotions Glenn Peñaranda said at the virtual launch of the program on April 18, attended by selected exporters, national trainers, and government representatives that 30 selected MSMEs will receive technical support to build an export brand, prepare for business deals and develop an export marketing plan.
Based on the Export Potential Assessment on the Philippines undertaken by the International Trade Centre (ITC), coconut products have one of the highest export potentials among the agro-based products being exported by the Philippines.
Through training and coaching, Philippine MSMEs will be guided by local and international experts in drafting their export marketing plans with the view to strengthen and expand their export position and support their international business development. They will also be trained on effective participation in trade fairs, sales negotiations and other relevant skills that will be crucial to their export expansion initiatives.
Philippine exporters will also benefit from participation support in selected trade fairs such as Thaifex in Thailand in May and Anuga in Germany in October this year.
“With the shared aspiration and commitment of participating MSMEs, government and project partners to position the Philippines as a reliable exporter of high-value coconut products, we are confident that this training will be instrumental in achieving exporting breakthroughs for the coconut sector, and in unlocking the country’s unrealized export potential, especially in the EU,” said Penaranda.
The training program is designed and organized for Philippine MSME exporters under ARISE Plus Philippines, a project of the Philippine government, with the DTI as the lead partner together with the Department of Agriculture (DA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Bureau of Customs (BOC), the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), as well as the private sector. It is funded by the European Union with the ITC as the technical agency for the project.