The Cebu Gifts Toys and Houseware Manufacturers and Exporters
(Cebu-GTH) is optimistic of a green program, called SMART Cebu, which is
initiated by a consortium of European and Philippine organizations for
the sector.

Ramir Bonghanoy, Cebu-GTH president, said that the
SMART Cebu project would generate more sales for the sector because of
the high demand for greener products in the international market.


The project called SMART Cebu or SMEs for environmental
Acccountability, Responsibility and Transparency project aims to train
entrepreneurs to adopt cleaner production methods and help them gain
better access to the European market.

According to a statement,
the project will cluster SMEs into nucleus or small groups per industry
association to undergo trainings from at least 14 representatives from
the sector called counselors, who are trained by experts.

These
14 counselors will then be tasked to train the 50 nucleus groups with
2,600 members.

The program which started last February will be
completed in February 2013.

It is funded by the European Union
and the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and costs around
P75 million.

“The over-all aim of the project is to foster an
increased competitiveness of SME's in the three sectors of furniture,
gifts and housewares and fashion accessories while supporting
sustainable production and consumption principle,” said SMART Cebu in a
statement.

Bonghanoy said the project would help Cebu industries
enter a new and fast growing market segment in Europe, which focuses on
green and sustainable projects.

“This is ideal for Cebu because
our skills and materials are abundant here”, Bonghanoy said.


He added that this initiative will provide a new foundation for Cebu's
industrial growth and secure a new image for Cebu as the Green Export
Capital of the Philippines.

Amina Yoosuf, one of the trainers
from Sri Lanka, said they were training at least 14 counselors, who will
train the 50 nucleus groups.

German expert Micheal Niemcyzk,
the Clean Production expert, said the training would teach the
participants to save on power, which would benefit their company in the
long run.

After the sustainability trainings, designers and
marketing experts would also teach workers how to effectively create
products and sell it to the international market, said Angela Pauline,
Cebu Furniture Industries Foundation (CFIF) President.

The
project organizers include Cebu FAME, CFIF, European Chamber of Commerce
of the Philippines and Cebu-GTH.