MANILA — The Department of Trade and Industry has opened a "Go Lokal" store in Intramuros, Manila on Monday to help micro, small and medium enterprises reach more customers.

Under the program, small businesses need not pay any rental fee, which is a big help for firms that have limited market access, the DTI said.

Go Lokal shops sell locally-made products from different provinces.

The new shop is located in Manila Canvas inside Fort Santiago. Initially, it is offering food and non-food items from small businesses in Luzon like woven handicraft, bags, accessories, banana chips and more.

"Napakarami na ating dapat tulungan na mga MSMEs na kailangan talaga ng exposure ng kanilang mga produkto (we have helped so many businesses that need exposure for their products)," said DTI Undersecretary Blesila Lantayona.

She added that the location is very good as Intramuros is among the most visited tourist sites in the country and there is demand for local products.

Rocelyn De Vera-Queja, owner of Manila Canvas, said she was happy to help small entrepreneurs because her business "Cactus and Canvass" also started small with only P1,000 capital years ago.

The rise of the tourism sector following the pandemic is expected to help many businesses, the entrepreneur said.

"We witnessed the foot traffic during Christmas, but we thought it's gonna stop there. Very fortunately, it didn't. In fact, it is still increasing the foot traffic here in Fort Santiago, here in Intramuros," she said.

Currently, there are 132 Go Lokal shops nationwide. DTI plans to add more, it said.

The Go Lokal program, which was launched in 2017, has helped MSMEs sell over half a billion pesos, the DTI said.

• Robinsons to operate Go Lokal store: trade dept
• DTI provides venue for pandemic-hit MSMEs to sell their goods

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