| Aziz Idris |
MOUNTAIN Wedding Services founder Diwi Ahmad yesterday praised DARe (Darussalam Enterprise) for organising Brunei’s biggest showcase of local products and services at the Bridex Hall in Jerudong.
Diwi, who has been in the wedding business for almost two years, said the “fantastic” event showcased a mixture of vendors.
Some 220 local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are participating in the MSME Festival helping develop trade opportunities for expansion or collaborations.
Diwi said participating in the MSME Festival validates her business as a local company while also finds potential collaborators among other vendors.
First time vendor, Hafidh Furniture CEO Muhammad Iskandar bin Haji Duraman said the event is a common platform for the MSMEs community to share knowledge and engage with the public.
He said he usually deals with customers via social media interactions but having a physical ‘showroom’ at the festival makes it easier to communicate and understand customer’s needs. Despite the belief that social media is an important marketing tool, he said.
“But not everyone is on social media, especially the older generation.”
“Therefore it is important to be present physically (for your customers) to further understand customer’s needs and wants.”
Saifulizam of Visual Pro joined the MSME Festival to create a bond with customers. He said, “The bond can only be created by meeting face-to-face and DARe provided the perfect platform for such interactions.”
He admitted that social media is an effective marketing tool to showcase his service but added it has its limitations.
“Creating that personal bond with your customer is harder through text message,” he said.
“Thank you DARe for providing a platform for local MSMEs to have better engagement with their customers.”
Some vendors were not looking to make a quick buck during the event but raise awareness on the environment. Founder of UPSYKL – Brunei’s first ever recycled clothing – Nabilah binti Jeffery said, “We aim to do our part in reducing pollution by recycling used fabrics.
“UPSYKL is also in the process of getting underprivileged families be part of our upcycling team in the hopes to lessen their burden and provide them with a basic income.
“This is our first-time participating in the event and we are happy that the public can learn more about upcycling. Some are interested to donate their clothes, while others requested to redesign their donated clothing.”
The event is organised by DARe. A myriad of products and services are available ranging from food and beverage, cosmetics, healthcare, fashion, textiles, electronics, household furniture, IT, e-Commerce, logistics, education, insurance and banking.
Prior to the festival, majority of the vendors depended heavily on on-line marketing via free social media sites to raise awareness on their business and never had a physical store before.
The MSME Festival will continue today and tomorrow from 9am to 9pm. The public can use the free shuttle buses provided at the JP Food Court due to limited parking space at Bridex Hall.