MILF chief welcomes 'inclusive business model' for Bangsamoro

COTABATO CITY – The chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) expressed support for the concept of “inclusive business model” during the launch of the Business Sustainability Framework in the Bangsamoro (BSFB) here Friday.

In his message read by Edward Guerra, co-chair of the Government and MILF joint normalization committee, MILF chief Al Haj Murad Ebrahim said "the inclusive business model is the one best suited for the region where poverty incidence is 48 percent, the highest in the country.”

“This BSFB launch could not have come at a more appropriate time as we prepare for a new political arrangement with the national government,” Murad added.

In a statement, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Regional Board of Investments (RBOI) said the inclusive business model, “while attaining for profit, also benefits the poor.”

“It attends to the 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,” the agency said.

For Murad, the continuing engagement of the business sector and other stakeholders 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.”

The BSFB launch was led by the RBOI-ARMM, together with the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) and Hineleban Foundation Inc. (HFI).

The BSFB 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 project is designed to increase investments that would hasten the development and peaceful integration of Muslim Mindanao into the national economy.

RBOI-ARMM said it is the concept of inclusive business that 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, RBOI chair, said the inclusive business model is part of BOI/RBOI Investment Priorities Plan 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 in Manila last September 28. (PNA)