Consistent with its work and advocacy on SME financial inclusion which supports inclusive businesses, ADFIAP participated in the Philippine Inclusive Business Forum held on November 26, 2012 at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) headquarters in Metro Manila, Philippines. The event brought together about 120 representatives of inclusive business (IB) companies and industry associations, the finance community, government agencies, development agencies and experts.

The ADB, the Asian Social Enterprise Incubator (ASEI) and the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) hosted the event whose primary objective was to present the findings of the IB market scoping study and to come up with proposed suggestions to support inclusive businesses in the Philippines in conjunction with ADB’s proposed Inclusive Business Fund for the Mekong and Southeast Asia region.

Through the thematic discussions, the forum highlighted inclusive business case studies/models such as Jollibee Foods Corp. (fast food retail), IPVG Corporation (vaccination clinics) and Phinma Property Holdings Corporation (social housing). Sectoral roundtable discussions were also held covering the following topics: (1) agriculture, agribusiness, food and beverages; (2) financial services (banking and insurance) and information technology (IT); (3) urban and rural services: water, housing, energy; (4) health and education; and (5) transport, logistics, retail, manufacturing, tourism, where IB companies and fund managers introduced their respective IB business and investment models. Thereafter, a moderated exchange of ideas, experiences and best practices was held. The forum was capped by a summary on recommendations for finance, business development, inclusive impact and the enabling environment to promote sustainable IB.

Mr. Neeraj Jain, ADB Philippine Country Director, delivered the closing remarks with the theme: “Moving from CSR to Inclusive Business”. ADFIAP was represented in the event by ADFIAP Consulting’s Ms. Cora Conde and Ms. Arlene Orencia.