Incentives pushed for “green” businesses

CEBU, Philippines - Local Government Units (LGUs) are urged to provide incentives for corporations or businesses in their respective areas that employ “green” operation system  in order to encourage other players.

SME Development for Sustainable Employment Program (Smedsep) overall Visayas coordinator Elpe Canoog said that there is a need for LGUs to encourage companies to adopt greener operations.

 In order to encourage the private sector to adopt green operations in their respective companies, Canoog suggested  that the government should provide incentives for companies that have already employed this system, or recognize their efforts.

“LGUs could make companies that are already adopting green operation  as examples or benchmark to other businesses. This is also part of educating the public on the importance of adopting  a green lifestyle, even to the residential level,” said Canoog.

Energy conservation is one of the main priorities to be adopted not only by the corporate level but also down to the mainstream users, said Canoog.

Together with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) through the Smedsep program recently announced a new German-government funded project focusing on greening the tourism value chain specifically in Cebu and Bohol.

Canoog hopes that the LGU executives, as well as  government agencies like the Department of Energy (DOE) will be able to join and support the project to heighten awareness on “greener” lifestyle.

The project, costing three million Euro,  will help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Cebu and Bohol in greening their operations, specifically the tourism industry, said Canoog.

The SME greening program is another development grant from  Germany  following the success of its nine-year joint project with DTI ---  the SMEDSEP ---  that will culminate by the end of this year.

“This is a new program that will be done for three years initially. We will be focusing on the tourism industry which we think will include many enterprises connected through the value chain,”  said Canoog.

According to program manager Volker Steigerward, the program will focus on greening the tourism sector in Cebu and Bohol, recognizing both provinces’ edge in tourism.

“The private sector is very active in Cebu and Bohol. They are open to anything that will help them.  For us, greening their businesses is a good step towards improvement and growth,” said  Steigerward.

“Greening the business processes can improve competitiveness of enterprises because they achieve lower overhead expenses through energy efficiency in their operations,” said Steigerward.

Canoog emphasized that while some export companies have already recognized the importance of adopting green operation in their companies, as the world market prefers to buy “green products,” there is also a need for both private sector and the government to educate the Filipino market to choose products and services that are produced via “green operation.”

She reiterated that LGUs have critical roles in shaping the minds of both consumers and producers to adopt “green” lifestyle, through providing enabling programs and educational awareness to constituents. (FREEMAN)