BRIDGe Project
BRIDGe Project
Inclusive Business (IB) has been truly effective in uplifting the lives of poor Filipinos. People of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) can attest to this success that was documented through the implementation of the Brokering Business Investments in the Bangsamoro to Achieve Inclusive Development and Growth (BRIDGe) Project. BRIDGe, a project implemented by PBSP in partnership with Hineleban Foundation, Inc. and Regional Board of Investments ARMM (RBOI-ARMM), developed the Business Sustainability Framework in the Bangsamoro (see Figure 1) that serves as a guide for future investors on how to do business in the region and an Investor’s Guide called CLICK, a toolkit for investors interested in the Bangsamoro.
Several agricultural companies in ARMM have adopted the IB model and improved their business operations in support of inclusivity. These companies, which include Matling Corporation, Lamsan Corporation, MKAVI II, Agumil, and Al Sahar, to name a few, put community engagement at the core of their business operations. Local residents, men and women, are employed and receive competitive benefits. They are also provided sustainable income through a cooperative. Their children are given scholarship and assured of jobs after their graduation. Community efforts are also considered with their involvement in community-based initiatives. These company practices and business models are complied in a resource book, entitled, Engaging with Bangsamoro Communities: The Key to Sustainable Business in Muslim Mindanao. For the expansion of these models and in line with the growing interest of companies to adopt inclusive business, PBSP launched the Inclusive Business Capacity Building Fund during the Inclusive Business Leaders Conference last November. It is a grant fund facility that will support the provision of capacity-building interventions and technical assistance to farmers, fishermen, community producers, and other productive marginalized groups for them to engage in IB projects of companies.
