ADFIAP boosts Cebu entrepreneurs

MANILA, Philippines - The Manila-based Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP) has joined a consortium composed of seven international organizations to implement a project under the European Union’s (EU) SWITCH Program on sustainable consumption and production (SCP).

As part of its sustainable development advocacy, ADFIAP will help make the operations and practices of three exporting small and medium exterprise (SME) sectors in Cebu, namely, furniture, fashion accessories and gifts, toys and house wares.

The SWITCH is a regional program funded by the EU, which promotes and encourages environmentally responsible practices among producers and consumers.

The consortium partners are SEQUA of Germany (lead partner), Cebu Fashion Accessories Manufacturers and Exporters (Cebu FAME), Cebu Furniture Industry Foundation (CFIF), Cebu Gifts, Toys and House Wares (Cebu GTH), the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP), the EFA Energy Efficiency Agency NRW (Germany), and ADFIAP.

Acronymed SMART Cebu, or SMEs for Environmental Accountability, Responsibility and Transparency, the three-year Euro 1,223,482 (approximately P80 million) project will undertake training and capacity-building initiatives for the target SMEs.

It was launched last February in Cebu City, and will be implemented by the lead partner SEQUA.

ADFIAP www.adfiap.org is the focal point of 113 member-development finance institutions and banks in 42 countries and territories in the Asia-Pacific region.

It provides technical and financial assistance to countries in the region for the past 30 years.

Some of the ADFIAP in the Philippines are Planters Development Bank (Plantersbank), the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), the Philippine Export-Import Credit Agency (PhilEXIM), Queen City Development Bank of Iloilo, and the RCBC Savings Bank.