ADFIAP, the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) held a meeting in the ADFIAP headquarters on November 12, 2012 where ECCP presented a list of prospective SME clients to DBP for possible financing, initially for trade fair participation, under the latter’s “Greening of Industries” program to implement the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for a green financing and advocacy initiative that will benefit small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and local government units (LGUs) in the country.

Under the MOA, DBP www.dbp.ph will assist SMEs and LGUs in the development and implementation of their green projects through its environmental credit facilities under its green financing program. ECCP, www.eccp.com for its part, will serve as the main contact of its member-companies and its other stakeholders that are interested to avail of a loan under DBP’s green financing program. ADFIAP’s role is to serve as a platform for the advocacy of green financing through the conduct of green finance awareness briefings, SME access to finance forums as well as linkage and capacity building-programs on sustainable consumption and production (SCP) and green investments to its members and other supporting organizations.

It was agreed during the meeting that a “One-on-One Loan Counseling” will be scheduled for SMEs interested to avail of financing based on DBP’s Financing Program Survey conducted through ECCP. This personalized approach is viewed as more effective in accurately assessing the needs of each SME and offering financial packages to address these needs, rather than holding of a group meeting where SMEs hesitate to voice out their concerns and issues in the presence of others.

Those who attended the meeting were DBP officials SVP Paul Lazaro, AVP Annie Salayon and Ms. Airah Gonzales; ECCP’s International Trade Officer Cahea Ang and ADFIAP Consulting’s Ms. Cora Conde, Ms.Cecile Ibarra, Ms. Arlene Orencia, Atty. Bert Reyno and Ms. Cristy Aquino.