IFEX exhibitors double to 700 this year

MANILA, Philippines — The export promotions arm of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) aims to double export sales from its ongoing food trade show, driven by the higher number of exhibitors this year.

IFEX Philippines project manager Rowena Mendoza told reporters the agency aims to surpass the $107 million worth of export sales generated by last year’s edition of the food trade show.

“If we doubled the exhibitors, we hope the export sales will also double,” she said.

This year’s IFEX features over 700 leading Philippine and international food and beverage exporters. This is double the 346 exhibitors featured in last year’s event.

According to DTI-Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) executive director Edward Fereira, the importance of the food trade show in building stronger partnerships and establishing new connections between local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and international trade buyers.

“IFEX Philippines is a response to the stable growing global demand for Asian and healthy food products, such as durian and ube. It is through sharing that we become more united and interconnected with each other. We hope that IFEX Philippines will be an event where everyone could share a significant piece of their culture to the global table,” Fereira said.

Trade Undersecretary Carol Sanchez expressed the DTI’s full support to jumpstart the Philippine food industry.

“DTI also supports increased opportunities for our MSMEs to offer their products and services on the international scene and to have more participation in global value chains (GVC),” Sanchez said.

Trade Assistant Secretary Leonila Baluyut of the Regional Operations Group (ROG) said the group continues to address the challenges faced by Filipino MSMEs.

Among these are thee Rise Up Multipurpose Loan a zero-interest and collateral-free loan program; Shared Service Facilities (SSF) a project that aims to improve the competitiveness of MSMEs by providing better access to technology; Kapatid Mentor Me provides mentorship to small businesses boosting entrepreneurial capacity through improved access to mentorship, money, and market.

The DTI-ROG agency provides strong and active support to IFEX Philippines by inviting homegrown MSMEs from the country’s different regions.

IFEX Philippines is CITEM’s long-running trade event and sourcing program for Philippine and global food and ingredients.

Together with IFEXConnect.com, IFEX Philippines serves as a one-stop business-to-business (B2B) platform aiming to optimize their sourcing experience of buyers from anywhere in the world.