Antonio T. dela Cruz, DATE 2008 Co-Chair, said during yesterday's edition of the Club 888 press forum at the Marco Polo Davao that DCCCII has initially recorded P22 million sales from at least 97 booths that participated in the event.

"As of today, only ninety-seven companies have submitted their sales reports, " dela Cruz said, adding that DATE 2008 had a total of 170 exhibitors.

DCCCII targets 25 percent increase sales from last year's performance of P79 million.

Dela Cruz, on the other hand, disclosed that DATE 2008 was a success, saying that the event was able to draw in 4,000 visitors both from Davao City and from the neighboring provinces and cities.

He said the best booth was awarded to the Province of Davao del Norte, the display showcase award was grabbed by the Province of North Cotabato, while the corporate award was given to the Mana Davao.

Meanwhile, as to the jobs fair, dela Cruz said that 49 local employers and 36 overseas agencies have joined the fair.

"There were a total of 5,295 applicants, 612 are immediately hired, while a total of 2, 572 are subject for interview," dela Cruz said.

The jobs fair was conducted in coordination with the regional office of the Department of labor and Employment (DOLE) 11, and with ABS-CBN Foundation.

He added that the trainings, one of the highlights of DATE 2008, were also participated by significant number of participants. He said a total of 96 people attended the seminars.

Although there were no foreign embassies who participated the event, dela Cruz said they are still grateful that foreign visitors were able to come to observe.

It was learned that the Indonesian and Malaysian consuls and also the Belgian Ambassador were in the city last week for the event.

Dela Cruz said DCCCII hopes to finish all the reports on the results of DATE 2008 by next week.