ADFIAP, on the invitation of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the UN Global Compact Network Philippines (GCNP), took part in two flagship projects led by both organizations – the “Business Expert Group Meetings” and the “Global Compact-UNIDO Sustainability Summit 2020: Uniting Business to Support MSME Recovery and Resilience.”

UNIDO and GCNP are collaborating to roll out these projects under the banner program, “Uniting Business for MSME Sustainability.” This joint initiative involves the establishment of three (3) Business Expert Groups on the pillars of “People”, “Planet” and “Prosperity”, with cross-cutting themes of “Peace” and “Partnerships.” The Business Experts Group will serve as platform to communicate thought leadership and action-directed discussions aimed towards policy coherence in support of MSMEs and will also serve as channel to develop collaborative efforts between government, customers, businesses and communities. The discussion series will culminate in the “2020 Sustainability Summit” with the purpose of presenting the results covering policy recommendations and action points of the Business Expert Groups to high-level government partners, development partners, civil society and the academe.

In order to assist the MSMEs in processing and articulating their views on the issues and how these can be addressed, a series of 90-minute Business Expert Group discussions were conducted on October 15 on the thematic area “People”; October 16 on “Planet” and October 20 on “Prosperity”, consistent with the pillars of the SDGs .

As a member of the Expert Group on Prosperity, ADFIAP, represented by Ms. Cora Conde, Head of the ADFIAP Consulting Group, facilitated the discussion on the sub-theme “MSME Financing and Government Stimulus.” The Focused Group Discussion (FGD), participated in by representatives from financial institutions, government agencies, industry chambers, MSMEs and academe, mapped out and prioritized issues on the major challenges in MSME financing and the current prospects for digital-based options. The discussion proceeded to the agreement of joint solutions to address the identified challenges and the outreach and partnerships that can be forged to facilitate MSME business recovery and resilience.

Outcome documents will be developed as a result of the consultations and will be presented at the Sustainability Summit to be held virtually on November 5, 2020 from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM before an audience of about 200 businesses from corporations to MSMEs.

To register, please click this link: http://bit.ly/SS2020registration