Editorial – Acronyms

MTE. MTTE. DATE. These are no ordinary abbreviations. These are acronyms of well-thought of periodic economic activities showcasing the best products and services of Davao and other parts of Mindanao.
MTE stands for Mindanao Trade Expo, a trade show started 13 years ago. Since the first MTE in 1996, this exposition has chalked up P630 million in total sales. The extravaganza showcases gifts, toys and housewares, furniture and furnishings, home textile, fashion accessories, fine jewelry, processed food, fresh fruits and vegetables, flowers and ornamentals and allied services. Under the watch of founding entrepreneur Ann T. Pamintuan, the expo had successfully assembled 1,590 exhibitors and tens of thousands of buyers, including 577 big domestic and foreign buyers. Pamintuan is confident that this impressive track record will even be improved with the MTE’s staging at Davao City’s Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas convention hall, August 13-16.
On the other hand, MTTE or the Mindanao Travel and Tour Expo, August 20-22 at the Davao Convention and Trade Center, is on its fourth year. Organized by the Davao Regional Tourism Council and the Department of Tourism in Region 11, the three-day expo is a multi-faceted, multi-event exposition of Mindanao’s tourism and related industries, as it promotes travel to Mindanao’s best destinations, as the area’s best hope of generating jobs and employment opportunities and attracting tourism investments.
The Mindanao tourism and transport highway map will be mounted right at the center of the venue, showing destinations around Mindanao and its connectivity from island to highland destinations. The road map will soon be accessible in designated websites. The MTTE presented in collaboration with seven other government agencies and private institutions promises an experience very different from the other trade expos.
DATE (Davao Trade Expo) now on its 11th staging is slated on September 17-19, also at the BSP convention hall. This year’s exposition will focus on agriculture, trade and commerce, ICT and tourism. This annual activity mainly presented by the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. and its big time backers will also feature trainings for small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) and specialized business matching, on top of the revived Davao Region business conference.
This early, participants from Belgium, the European Union, the United States and countries compromising the East Asean Growth Area have signified their intention to participate.
These and smaller exhibitions, such as the agro-industrial trade exhibits timed with the Kadayawan Festival, August 17-23, are periodic attempts by different groups whose synergy has yet to be tried in a unified, more organized effort to showcase Davao Region’s best products and services.
Separately, these groups have done so much good for themselves, the business community and the general public, one can only imagine how much more they can achieve if they act in unison. Perhaps, they should continue acting as separate groups in their individual expos, but they ought to consider, too, pooling their talents and resources to stage a much bigger activity. Say, in a permanent place built for just that purpose to showcase all these things all-year round.