THE micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) received a boost amid the COVID-19 pandemic with the staging of the Gawa’d Pangasinan, a trade fair and exhibit being held at the SM Center in Dagupan City, that showcases the products of local manufacturers in the province.

Provincial Director Natalia Dalaten of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said the trade fair is part of the Consumer Welfare Month activities set this month to showcase the sustainability of micro enterprises.

Dalaten said the event demonstrates how the local MSMEs help each other sustain their viability. Some 66 MSMEs brought their products to the Gawa’d Pangasinan exhibit with 40 coming from PEDAI and 26 from PhilExport. ‘Gawa’d’ is a Pangasinan term which means ‘made in’.

Howard Chua Cham, chairman of the SME Development Council in Pangasinan and Region I, said he’s happy to note how MSMEs survived for six-and-a-half months amid the pandemic.

“This fair is an opportunity to come together. Connection with each other was temporarily strained but now the reconnection makes us strong together again, knowing that business is not just for the producer but for the consumer as well,” Cham said.

Abraham Malicdem, mall manager of SM Center Dagupan which hosts the exhibit, said one of the areas supported by SM is the area of entrepreneurship.

Also present during the opening day of the exhibit were Racky Doctor, president of the Pangasinan Entrepreneurs Development Association Incorporated (PEDAI) and Joy Perez, president of the PhilExport association of Region I. (PIA/VHS)

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