ADFIAP and its Philippine-based members, the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and Land Bank of the Philippines (Land Bank) together with the SMART Cebu project partners – the European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (ECCP), the Gift, Toys and Housewares (GTH), the Fashion Accessories Manufacturers and Exporters (FAME) and the Cebu Furniture Industry Foundation (CFIF) – held on July 7, 2011 a “Green Finance Forum” at the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) conference facility in Cebu City, Philippines.
The goal of the forum was to inform members of the above-mentioned chambers of industries, mostly exporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs), of the lending facilities of both DBP and Land Bank for cleaner production, energy efficiency, renewable energy and other environmental loans and to have one-on-one (bank-to-SME) meetings on the specific financing needs as well as the loan terms and requirements. Over 30 participants attended the forum which also featured presentations of the ECCP (on business competitiveness and sustainability), ADFIAP (on best practices and case studies of members’ green finance programs), SMART Cebu project (on business opportunities for resource efficiency and cleaner production) and DOST (on technical and financial support on greening industries.
ADFIAP is part of the consortium of organizations undertaking the 3-year EU grant-funded SMART Cebu project under the European Commission’s SWITCH Asia programme. Other partners include SEQUA and NfW of Germany. SMART Cebu stands for SMEs for Environmental Accountability, Responsibility and Transparency in Cebu.
The project is aimed at increasing the competitiveness and productivity of Cebu SMEs through their respective chambers of industries in three sectors, namely, furniture and furnishings, fashion accessories, and gift, toys and house wares by instituting sustainable consumption and production (SCP) related processes and practices in, among others, cleaner production, energy and resource efficiency as well as to contribute to an overall greener environment.
ADFIAP’s main role in the project is to advocate for SCP through training, technical assistance and potential lending programmes by DFI-members to these sectors in their pursuit of environmentally-responsible, economically-viable and socially-oriented projects which are within the scope of work and advocacies of the Association.
The ADFIAP delegation was composed of Mr. Octavio B. Peralta, Secretary General, Ms. Corazon Conde, ADFIAP Consulting (AC) Head and Ms. Arlene Orencia, Head of AC Projects and Programs. For more details on the SMART Cebu project, please go to this site: https://www.smartcebuproject.com/