The Philippine Business for Social Progress, in collaboration with the Board of Investments and the Department of Trade and Industry, will hold the Inclusive Business Leaders Conference on November 28, 2018 at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.
Inclusive Business (IB) provides viable solutions to curb poverty by including small community enterprises at the heart of business’ core operations. It is the government’s means to encourage increased investment in human capital development and the private sector’s means to increase their contribution to the country’s socio-economic goals, while staying commercially viable. PBSP has been working since 2012 to lead the promotion of IB mainly by facilitating multi-sectoral partnerships to develop IB projects. In these projects, PBSP matches and capacitates community producers to become suppliers of buyer companies. The largest business-led NGO assists companies to do the unfamiliar task of integrating poor communities into an appropriate segment of the companies’ value chains.
The Inclusive Business Leaders Conference aims to present actionable inclusive business opportunities, promote inclusive business practices and models in the Philippines and in the region, and create a platform for knowledge sharing and discussion among business and other stakeholders to collaborate on Inclusive Business activities.
The conference focuses on increasing synergies between the government and the private sector to increase adoption of IB. IB champions from the business industry and government will lead the sessions which will provide enriched discussions and present concrete action plans on increasing IB investments in the region.
Leaders from government agencies will impart existing policies and programs that enhance Inclusive Business during the Policy and Programs session. Insights from Operational IB Models and Practices breakout sessions on Agriculture and Tourism provide opportunities to learn from successful inclusive businesses and to tackle barriers to making growth inclusive. Local governments will present Inclusive Business investment-ready areas during the Investment Opportunities session. Business sustainability experts will share existing programs that are driven by multi-stakeholder partnerships during the Partnerships Platform session.
In line with socio-economic agenda of the administration to promote rural and value chain development toward increasing agricultural and rural enterprise productivity and rural tourism, the BOI fosters Inclusive Business through the 2017-2019 Investment Priorities Plan. Under the IPP, Agribusiness and Tourism companies engaged in Inclusive Business are eligible for incentives. Aiming to alleviate poverty by 14% by 2022, the government leverages on Inclusive Business to strengthen the link between companies and MSEs. Following the successful APEC and ASEAN Inclusive Business conferences in 2015 and 2017, the Philippine government continues to strengthen industries to develop IB models through policy and promotion.
Outcomes of the IB Leaders Conference will contribute to the Philippine commitment to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in support of the goal of “Promoting Sustainable, Innovative and Inclusive Growth.”♦
Date of Release: 26 November 2018