by Products from Bohol and other parts of the country were showcased during the Sandugo trade expo last July 23 to 27 at Island City Mall in Tagbilaran City. The trade fair venue was divided into 2 areas. One area was at THE BLOCK (outside ICM) and the other is inside the mall, near the food court.
I was excited to see the different displayed products on the trade fair so I was there at the opening day of the fair. On that day, the booths were not yet busy. Some of the owners were still busy arranging their products. I asked some of the booth owner about the status of the sales. They said that luckily they already have sales on that day considering I was there at noon. They said that usually the sales would go high at around late afternoon and at night since most of the buyers are at work during noon.
I roamed around the area and took pictures of the booths. Different products were displayed during the event. Some of the products were made from the raw materials here in Bohol. I was amazed at how some of the materials here in Bohol could be made into many useful products. Among the raw materials are buri, uway, pineapple, abaca, seashells, magay and many others.
Take a look at some of the pictures from the different booths.
I also noticed that some of the booths were named from places outside Bohol. Yes, some of the exhibitors were coming from other provinces. There were exhibitors from Cebu and provinces from Mindanao. I asked some of the booth owners from Cebu and they told me how difficult it was just to come to Bohol. The weather during that time was not so good. I think that was when habagat had striken Visayas after a typhoon. Some of the booth owners were funded by the government just to bring the products of the farmers from there place. Many were also able to join the exhibit last year. They were bringing around 10 boxes of products with them. They were hoping that they could have a better sales this year.
After roaming around the place, I entered the mall. As I entered the mall entrance, Governor Chatto was also about to enter the mall. That was at that moment that I realized that the opening of the trade fair is at the afternoon of that day. I was thinking that the opening program of the exhibit was already done in the morning. The opening program had started at around 4:30 in the afternoon.
The opening program of the trade fair was held at the activity center of ICM. The event was graced by big names in Bohol. Highlighted during the event was the call from our governor to join together to build a better Bohol. That event was also a preparation for the upcoming ASEAN on 2015.
Inside the mall there were also a lot of booths. Most of the products of the exhibitors were different kinds of food. There were products from Ilo-Ilo, Cebu, Davao and of course the delicacies from Bohol. Displayed at the mall were also some furnitures and other wood crafts.
As expected, there were a lot of people who were able to visit the trade fair. During my next visit to ICM, there were a lot of buyers on the exhibited products. That only proved that the event was very successful.
