Manila, April 30 -- The provincial government of Ilocos Norte is giving a group of farmer-producers and -processors here a boost by providing them a link to high-end consumers through a "pasalubong center" inside a mall.

"We are working on a partnership with the Robinsons Mall and the Ilocos Norte Farmers Processors Cooperative for a 'pasalubong center' where they can display their products," Elma Gabriel, head of the provincial government's Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Office (MSMEO), said in an interview on Wednesday.

The market link is on top of the cooperative's participation in government-organized trade fairs and the producer-to-consumer program, she added.

Gabriel said food manufacturing and processing are among the flagsh...