Cebu City (November 18) --raduating from a livelihood mentality to a real enterprise is what the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is pushing for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as the five-day 4th OTOP (One Town, One Product) Visayas Island Fair kicks off today at the SM City Cebu.

Trade Undersecretary for Regional Operations and Development Group Merly M. Cruz said the OTOP Fair, now on its fourth year, has immensely help MSMEs not only in opening market opportunities but also in improving the quality of their products.

Since we initiated the OTOP Visayas Fair four years ago, the number of exhibitors participating in the event has risen, Cruz said.

"We have successfully build up a track record in the last four years" as last year’s OTOP Fair also held in Cebu "generated the highest number of jobs, highest number of sales, highest number of exhibitors and highest number of exports" compared to the two previous fairs in 2006 and 2007, according to Cruz.

Last year, the annual Visayas Fair generated P26M in sales with 105 participating exhibitors, this is learned.

"We are targeting P30M sales for this year’s OTOP Visayas Fair," Cruz bared as the five-day activity has 177 participating exhibitors from Regions 6, 7 and 8.

DTI-7 Regional Director Asteria Caberte said that due to the increasing popularity of the annual trade fair, they now encounter a problem of space to accommodate the growing number of exhibitors interested to join the event.

Last year, the number of booths was slightly over a 100 and now this has risen to 117 with 177 participating exhibitors, Caberte disclosed.

Products for display are souvenir items, novelty items, gift items, furniture and furnishings, natural fiber and fashion accessories such as bags, shawls, headgears, processed food and footwear. Tourist destinations in the Visayas have also been included in the OTOP marketing program.