IFEX Philippines Draws More Southeast Asian Buyers as PH leads 30th ASEAN Summit

Wazzup Pilipinas!

More Southeast Asian trade buyers are expected to source the best of Philippine and Asian food products in the 11th edition of IFEX Philippines on May 19-21 at the World Trade Center Metro Manila (WTCMM) and Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC).

“As one of the official trade events in the 30th ASEAN Summit, IFEX Philippines will further our aspirations toward a more inclusive, innovation-led growth in ASEAN bloc by matching global food buyers and food suppliers within the region,” said DTI-CITEM Executive Director Clayton Tugonon.

Based on DTI-CITEM’s latest tally on May 8, 23% of the confirmed trade buyers in IFEX Philippines are coming from ASEAN and South Asia; while 25% from the Middle East and Africa, 18% from Americas, 14% from East Asia, 11% from Europe, 4% from China and its special administrative regions (SARS), and 5% from Oceania.

This is a significant increase compared to the previous 2015 edition, wherein only 18% of the total international buyers came from ASEAN countries and South Asia.

“We are also proud to announce that more than half of our confirmed Very Important Buyers (VIBs) are first timers. Their presence is significant in streamlining new trade deals and partnerships,” said Tugonon. “We were able to convince them through our aggressive buyer campaign, complemented with the renewed global interest towards Filipino food fusions, as well as the diplomatic efforts of President Rodrigo Duterte to deepen the economic ties of the Philippines with other states.”

Based on the same tally, 64% of the confirmed VIBs are visiting IFEX Philippines for the first time. VIBs are representatives of established and reputable retail giants and supermarkets across the world.

Among retail giants participating from Southeast Asia is “The Mall Group,” which is one of the largest supermarket operators in Thailand, recording about 6 billion US dollar revenue in 2016.

Retail chains and supermarkets hailing from different regions also include the Hurxley Corporation from East Asia; Integral Foodservices from the Middle East and Africa; Bianca International Organic, Inc. from Americas; Migros, Albert Heijn B.V., Veld Co. and Decare from Europe; and Nanjing Grand Group from China.

Through DTI-CITEM’s partnership with the different embassies, the three-day event is also expected to host delegations of international buyers from Syria, Japan, Korea and Turkey.

To maximize sourcing opportunities, buyers in IFEX Philippines can join the IFEX Philippines Connect, an integrated business platform that matches buyers with potential food suppliers and other business partners.

Those engaged in the private label industry will also have the privilege to participate in the Grocers Exchange (GMART Program) to connect with private label suppliers.

To get a more comprehensive outlook on the Philippine market, international buyers have the option to join the guided tours on local big retail chains and supermarkets under the Store Visit Program, coordinated with the Philippine Amalgamated Supermarkets Association, Inc. (PAGASA).

They will also have a chance to win premier vacation in Pearl Farm Beach Resort, a five-star beach resort in Davao del Norte under the Luxe Escape Dream Destination Raffle Promo.

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IFEX Philippines, Asia’s ethnic food & ingredients show, is the country’s biggest international trade exhibition on the Philippines’ and Asia's specialty food, with around 700 exhibitor companies, attracting wholesale buyers, importers and food distributors from all over the world.

IFEX Philippines is organized by the Department of Trade and Industry, through its Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (DTI-CITEM), in partnership with the Department of Agriculture, through its Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service (DA-AMAS), and the ASEAN Committee on Business and Investment Promotion (CBIP), which is chaired by DTI.

YouTube FanFest Creator Camp Highlights

Wazzup Pilipinas!

We are proud to have been a part of the YouTube FanFest Creator Camp held on May 11 at the World Trade Center. There were just a very few of us there since the seats are probably less than a hundred and since everyone was allowed to bring a plus one, then that could only mean only around 50 got the chance to be face-to-face with some of the leading local and foreign YouTubers or Content Creators led by Alex Wassabi, Mikey Bustos, Wil Dasovich, Lloyd Cafe Cadena, Erwan Heussaff and a lot more who joined the several panel discussions composed of three YouTube sensations per panel.

Bear in mind that only content creators with a minimum of 1K subscribers were allowed to be part of the YouTube FanFest Creator Camp so everyone there are naturally active in content creation to be able to garner such a number of followers. However, I would be on the modest side since I am only a minuscule of what the others have achieved on YouTube.

I got to meet a few more content creators that nearer my age, and a lot from the younger generations that are still at the start of the Millennials group. I am way beyond 35 so that makes me a little bit out of place among the majority there composed of the youth somewhere around their college levels.

I was surprised that some of them do know me or they probably just heard me ask a question during the Q&A portion of the first panel where I asked the panelist of their thoughts of being more globally competitive if you can fluently speak in English.

Ragnarok Online CBT Starts Mid June, Ragnarok Festival a Huge Success

Wazzup Pilipinas!

At a press conference held at the Marco Polo Hotel on May 12, just a few days after the hugely attended and very grand Ragnarok Festival held at SM North EDSA Annex on May 7, the officials of Electronics Extreme, Managing Director Kamphee "Ken" Piromward, and Elite Global Sourcing, CEO Johnny Paek, announced that the Closed Beta Testing (CBT) of the returning Ragnarok Online in the Philippines will be on mid June. The registration for CBT is now open for everyone, and is said to be unlimited.

More juicy information and details can be found on the videos we took from the coverage of the press conference, including most of the Question and Answer portion. The special presscon for media and Ragnarok guild members was held that day because we couldn't hear each other during the Ragnarok Festival event a few days ago.

The Ragnarok Festival can be considered a huge success. We got most of the videos during that event and are also uploaded on our official YouTube channel as well as many photos at our official Facebook page. There are just so many that uploading is being done continuously on a daily basis. Hoping for your patience as we try to bring them all up online as soon as possible. There were just so many events that happened recently that we got so overwhelmed with too many event coverage that our Internet connection couldn't catch up.

Mostly everyone was nostalgic at the Ragnarok Festival, especially those who have really played with Ragnarok online since the very first years it got so popular in the gaming community as a MMORPG or a Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game originating from Korea. I used to work for Level Up (now called Playpark PH), the original distributor, and I could still reminisce how we truly enjoyed the game. But I believe that these kind of games were quickly in competition with the online action games like First-Person Shooters (FPS) Special Force or Crossfire. I was also divided in playing other online games like Gunbound and other similar online games that makes you think fast and as accurate as possible.

Needless to say, Ragnarok was more of a leisure game where it is up to the player if he wants to keep on going and fight monsters to get loots or just stay in the market place to sell his items.

However, the hype was obviously still in and going hot as evident to the number of attendees that came. There were even reports of others unable to come in due to the limited space at the venue. The organizers couldn't believe it will be welcomed as big as this.

Models dressed up depicting the different jobs was a big hit too. But everyone had their own special favorite especially the boys who can't stop ogling at the pretty face of the priest, and the voluptuous physical attributes of the blacksmith.

From the head gear to the co-splay competition, and a surprising pizza eating competition among guild members, the fans had a chance to participate and win prizes from Ragnarok, including form the raffle draws where the grand prize allowed a lucky attendee to bring home a new Suzuki motorbike.

The event was even made more special with two popular bands playing quite a good a number of songs. Imago with its lead female singer heat up the event first, while Sandwich came in a few segments after. The awarding of prizes plus the grand raffle were the culminating segments that made the crowd roar in delight.

Ragnarok Online is truly back, and we are happy that the new distributors have well-organized plans to prevent the former issues like double standards and other significant issues and problems encountered mostly by the players.

Congratulations to Ragnarok Online Philippines!!