COTABATO CITY — Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Chairman Al-Hajj Murad Ebrahim in a message read by Architect Edward Guerra, co-chairman of GPH-MILF Joint Normalization Committee, lauded the concept of “inclusive business model” during the December 18 launching here of the Business Sustainability Framework in the Bangsamoro (BSFB).
Ebrahim said that the inclusive business model is the one best suited for the region where poverty incidence is 48%, the highest in the country. The inclusive business model, while for profit, benefits the poor. It attends to higher calling of benefiting low income communities, not through charitable acts but through the inclusion of the poor in the business operations providing them livelihood that will build a dignified society.
Photography: Mark Navales, photo-journalist.
“This BSFB launching could not have come at a more appropriate time as we prepare for a new political arrangement with the national government. The continuing engagement of the business sector and other players in the region is a testament of their confidence in our ability to transition smoothly into what we envision is a better future with a more stable policy environment for the business sector,” Ebrahim added.
The BSFB launching was led by the Regional Board of Investments (RBOI) of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) together with the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) and Hineleban Foundation Inc. (HFI).
It was crafted through the Brokering Business Investments in the Bangsamoro to Achieve Inclusive Development and Growth or (BRIDGe) Project funded by the Australian Government.
The BRIDGe is designed to increase investments that will hasten the development and peaceful integration of Muslim Mindanao into the national economy. It is the concept of Inclusive Business which is a major strategy for poverty reduction as it integrates and enables low-income communities to participate in the value chain of a company’s core business either as employees, suppliers, distributors, retailers or consumers who are then able to access goods and services at affordable prices and improve their lives.
Lawyer Ishak Mastura, chairman and managing head of RBOI, said that inclusive business model is part of BOI/RBOI Investment Priorities Plan (IPP) 2017-2019 so that businesses having this kind of model can enjoy fiscal incentives from the RBOI.
“Next year, we will be turning-over the BSFB to the new government and we expect them to carry the ball of investment promotion and investments towards sustainable and inclusive development,” Mastura added.
The BSFB was first launched last September 28, 2018 in Manila. (RBOI)