The finest products made out of bamboo will be showcased in a week-long 1st Mindanao Bamboo Expo scheduled from Sept. 15 to 19 in the Robinsons Place Mall in Valencia City, Bukidnon.

The bamboo expo is a project of the newly-organized Mindanao Bamboo Industry Development Council (MBIDC) which is supported by the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) and other agencies of government, including the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).

In a statement on Sunday, MinDA chairperson Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said individual farmers, craftsmen, artisans, commercial groups, and local government units are expected to participate in the first-ever virtual-actual hybrid expo which would display the commercial products made out of bamboo.

Products like furniture, treated and laminated bamboo blocks and panels, huts, bamboo houses, and cutlery and kitchen tools will be displayed during the expo.

Planting materials of giant bamboo and other bamboo varieties will also be displayed and sold during the expo.

“Those who could not physically come to the expo site, MinDA and MBIDC have established a digital platform which would allow virtual visits from booth to booth. The virtual visitors could also engage the expo exhibitors in a business matching, an innovation which would allow even those living in Europe and the US to be able to check out items which they like,” Piñol said.

Lectures on bamboo farming, processing, and even financing will also be conducted in actual and virtual sessions.

Piñol also encouraged those interested to join the bamboo expo to coordinate with the MinDA through its Facebook page.

Meanwhile, Bukidnon Giant Bamboo Resources Corp. president Rod Bioco said the expo will be headed by Bob Tinsay, chairman of the Bukidnon Giant Bamboo Resources Corp. based in Malaybalay City. (PNA)