The Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions and the Embassy of the Netherlands in the Philippines have teamed up for a program that will help encourage Filipino exporters to elevate their design and manufacturing standards to make them more globally competitive.

Dubbed the Arbiter of Design Program-Dutch Design in Development or DDiD, the partnership hopes to stir the pot of Philippine design and make it more geared toward the European market, which was the destination of 17 percent of the country’s exports in 2007. Citem explained that any business in the country geared toward exports would seek to penetrate the European market.

“The exports volume can still be increased if local designers and enterprises can produce products that are more in tune with the market’s aesthetics,” said Citem.

The program will act as matchmaker between Dutch designers and small and medium enterprises and design schools in emerging markets.

The cooperation promoted by DDiD will definitely benefit Filipino designers and SMEs by establishing its position as a source of innovative and quality-driven products.

The Netherlands, a relatively small country, has produced more successful independent designers than the United States or Italy. This has been attributed to an open-minded culture, high-quality education and the self-confident, independent and adventurous character of the country’s designers.

“Dutch design continues to make a mark in the world and we are also aware of the growing potential of Filipino designers,” said Dutch Ambassador Robert Brinks.

He added: “Through this program, we hope to strengthen the Philippines’ competitive edge in design and innovation by creating opportunities for information exchange and interaction with international design luminaries.”

Stella van Himbergen, the Dutch design arbiter of the two-day seminar-workshop held last Oct. 18 and 19, said Philippine design has a lot of possibilities.

“I saw very interesting designs which will be preferred by the high-end niche market in Europe,” she said after seeing sample designs of almost 400 exhibitors of Manila F.A.M.E. International.

Van Himbergen pointed out that the eco-trend is a big advantage to the Philippines as the country is a source of natural indigenous materials.

She said one of the program’s goals is to see whether Filipino designers were willing to work with their European counterparts.

“[We will try to] raise the standards of design education, give classes to design institutes, work for permanent access to information and prepare the designers to know their market,” Van Himbergen added. Dinna Chan Vasquez