The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Negros Oriental is reviving its trade fair for local micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to allow them to recoup their losses after more than two years of hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

DTI-Negros Oriental provincial director Nimfa Virtucio said on Monday the event dubbed EXPŒrience: 6200 Pop Up Arts and Crafts Fair and Negros Oriental Food Fair, will showcase the province’s small businesses that have been affected by the pandemic.

“In the more than two years of the pandemic, many of these small businesses either shut down or incurred losses due to the quarantine restrictions, and through the upcoming trade fair and expo, we are providing them the opportunity to resume their income-generating activities,” Virtucio said in mixed English and Cebuano.

Previously known as 6200 Pop Up Arts and Crafts, the event was launched in 2018 and featured only local artists, craftsmen, artisans, fashion designers, animators, and musicians, among others, she said.

“At that time, the main objective was to promote individuals who were into arts and crafts, such as products of hands and minds, but the food industry was not included then,” she added.

This time, solid processed food products by local MSME producers are being integrated into the event.

EXPŒrience is a “portmanteau” of the words “expo” and “experience”, the DTI here said, and will be the first face-to-face interaction between the trade fair participants and the general public since 2019.

Virtucio said the trade expo and food fair will be in July at the local Robinsons Place shopping mall, to give enough time for participants to prepare their products and other items for sale and exhibit.

There will be 15 booths, with seven for food and eight for non-food, to be shared among the registered participants.

Registration is for free and those interested may visit sign up online, with the link provided by the DTI-Negros Oriental’s Facebook account. (PNA)