GTH exporters eye high-end market

CEBU, Philippines - As the global economy continues to slowdown, exporters from the Cebu Gifts, Toys and Houseware Foundation, Inc. (Cebu-GTH) are now eyeing the high-end segment of emerging foreign markets.

In an interview with its Cebu-GTH president Ramir Bonghanoy, he said that at the height of the crisis, exporters like them have been experiencing a different degree of slowdown depending upon the market that each of them have been catering to.

He said that since their members are versatile, they can make and customize a lot of products depending upon the demand and requirement of clients so it is easier for them to get sales.

He said that right now, they are trying to explore new markets specially the high-end segment of countries like Russia, Hong Kong, Brazil, India, Canada, Spain, Dubai, some parts of China like Beijing and Shanghai, and some countries in the Middle East.

Bonghanoy said that tapping into the high-end segment of these countries are part of their prospects in continually growing their market presence in the global marketplace even amidst the recession.

“One way for us to go up is to go high-end because the money right now is there. Although its smaller compared to the mass market, the value is there because it is where the money is,” said Bonghanoy.

He added that their sector has big potential in tapping into the high-end segment of the global market and even if it is not really a huge market; it is still big enough for Philippine exporters to capitalize on.

“We encourage everybody form the sector to put their hearts and focus into product development and so they can easily shift to serving the requirements of the high-end market although we will not enforce it but it could be one of their options to survive the crisis,” said Bonghanoy.

He said that in terms of capability, the products of their sector have the capacity to easily shift focus in serving the demand of the high-end market.

“Our exporters have the capability to target the high-end market because our main experience is more into versatility and with it, we can easily shift from doing one kind of product to another,” said Bonghanoy.

He said that product development seminars and other technical workshop needs to be done to equip their members in starting to cater to a different segment of the market since most of them have been accustomed to serving the middle to low-end segment of the international market.

Bonghanoy said that although there have been companies from their sector who have tried their hand on catering to the demand of the high-end market this number is still only few.