PBSP, Germany’s development aid agency publish booklet on corporate-community partnerships

SOCIAL development foundation, Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) and Germany’s development aid agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) has published a booklet featuring successful corporate-community partnerships in the Visayas and Mindanao.

The booklet is a product of the eight-year implementation of the Strategic Corporate-Community Partnership (Scope) for Local Development Program, a joint initiative of PBSP and GIZ.

Called Kaleidoscope, the 84-page booklet tells 17 colorful stories of mutually-beneficial partnerships entered between companies and community groups in the Visayas and Mindanao since 2004.

“Engaging the private sector in reaching our partner countries’ goals for sustainable economic growth is one of the strategies of the German cooperation. Here in the Philippines, Scope is a model to engage local companies, especially small and medium-sized ones, in creating sustainable livelihood opportunities and jobs for the poor,” said Wolfgang Mollers, GIZ Deputy Regional Director – Philippines and the Pacific.

Scope projects cover various fields including agriculture, environment and skills training among others. The projects developed and involved companies and communities to reap long-lasting and sustainable relationships.

PBSP executive director Rafael Lopa said Scope came at the “most opportune time when we need to showcase stories that will inspire our partners in the corporate sector on how corporate citizenship can be carried out without necessarily going out of its core business operators.”

Featured in the booklet are stories from Cebu (GracieQ Creative Designs Inc., Interior Crafts of the Islands Inc., Sugbuanon Rural Bank Inc.,  Seedbase Inc., and MCPI Corp.); Bohol (Jojie’s Bakeshop); and Negros (Central Azucarera de la Carlota Inc., EG Agro-Eco Ventures, Belmayor Development Corp., San Jose Development Corp., Gamboa Hermanos Farmworkers Multi-Purpose Cooperative).

Also included in the booklet are stories from the different provinces in Mindanao (East West Seed Company, STEAG State Power Inc., Bote Central Inc., Serenity Coffee Company, Dole Stanfilco, Mabuhay Vinyl Corp. and NEH Phils. Inc.).

“With Scope, we took on a seemingly simple but important paradigm shift in viewing livelihood projects by looking at the needs of the companies first—understanding their requirements industry standards—before going out to the communities to ask and equip them to be providers of those needs,” said PBSP Trustee and Visayas Executive Committee Chairman Jose Antonio Aboitiz.

The Scope team is open to partner with companies interested in partnering with community groups or associations. The team can be reached through [email protected] or by calling Janina or Cris at the PBSP Visayas Regional Center at 2325270 or 2325283.