“Promote your own quality product and we will assist.”

This was the assurance made by the Ilocos Norte Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in their latest thrust of strengthening the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which is seen to generate jobs, through the province’s local government units (LGUs).

Benjamin Garcia, DTI provincial director, made this assurance during a regular meeting of the Ilocos Norte League of Municipalities in the Philippines held on April 20 at the Provincial Capitol’s Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) Session Hall.

During the said meeting, Garcia told the local executives “to identify their own unique local enterprise” in their respective areas for them to come up with a “One Town, One Product” (OTOP) idea that could make its mark both in the local, national and international markets.

The OTOP is one of the priority projects of the Arroyo administration to generate more jobs for local residents while helping create a unique identity for the local government unit concerned in the market.

With overflowing raw materials in several municipalities in the province, Garcia identified at least nine products that could be further developed and mass-produced to create its own niche in the market.

Among these products are the local vinegar being processed in Laoag City and Bacarra; San Nicolas’ pottery industry; Paoay and Sarrat’s ‘chichacorn’ and abel; Pagudpud’s shell crafts; Currimao’s native cakes; the brick-making industry of Burgos; the wood furniture industry in Dumalneg and Adams; and Pasuquin’s biscocho.

The other municipalities in the province which have yet to identify their respective products had been encouraged to do so and to come up with products that represent their municipality.

DTI’s OTOP program is also being supported by the Department of Tourism (DOT), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Technical and Educational Skills Development Authority (TESDA), the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Land Reform (DLR).

All these agencies would be sharing their technical expertise to any interested persons or groups who would want to venture into said local businesses.

Garcia added that their OTOP program would also serve as an avenue for local residents to show off their rich culture and tradition by re-discovering and strengthening their talents and skills in producing quality products that could stand out in the global market.

Leilanie G. Adriano