Caption: Present at the signing of the agreement were (from left) Mr. Wilson Baldonado - GPIoS Public Relations and Sustainability Officer, Dr. Thomas Dielacher- GPIoS Project Director, Mr. Roberto Banaag – First Vice President and Department Head of Corporate Communication, and Mr. Edward Dennis Liuag- Corporate Communications Department

Last December 14, 2011, GPIoS and Plantersbank signed a partnership, bridging the gap of the lack of SMEs to approach financial institutions and effectively access resources. GPIoS will serve as a tool to increase profitability while being environment-friendly, making SMEs more bankable.

“GPIoS and Plantersbank share a common goal of promoting sustainable development, and this collaboration includes promoting awareness and compliance of Filipino Entrepreneurs on local and national legislation and policies involving sustainable production and consumption,” says project director Dr. Thomas Dielacher.

The partnership will involve heightened use of technology-based assessment and environmental trainings for participating SMEs. Plantersbank with the GPIoS implementing partners will attract more pro-environmental investors and transactions and a well-founded public –private partnership. Plantersbank itself will undergo assessment as part of the GPIoS Phase 2 companies under ECOFOCUS Programme. It will also host workshops for their clients which will participate under the GPIoS ECOSENSE Program.

GPIoS also partnered with Philippine Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development, Inc., the secretariat for the National Eco-labeling Program “GreenChoice” Philippines last January 25, 2012, Berjaya Hotel, Makati City.

GPIoS and PCEPSDI share a common advocacy for caring to the environment through creating awareness and compliance of Filipino entrepreneurs on local and national policies involving sustainable production and consumption. The experts from GPIoS project will work together with the National Eco-labeling Program-Green Choice Philippines in the development of environmental standards for products. Moreover, the two organizations, with their network of companies will present and promote the “GPIoS shining showcases” to attract more pro-environmental actions and to engage in the National Eco-labeling Program “Green Choice” Philippines.

GPIoS is a project that seeks to contribute to an improved environmental and sustainable industrial development of Metro Manila and CALABARZON regions by introducing measures to save on energy, cut down on wastage and promote best environmental practices within organizations.

Funded by the European Union’s SWITCHAsia program, it is implemented by ASSIST,  GrAT of Austria, Czech Republic’s University of Ostrava (VSB), Austria Recycling (AREC), Philippine Chamber of Commerce Inc. (PCCI), European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP), Philippine Business for the Environment (PBE) and STENUM. #

SECURE GUJARAT is an initiative co-financed by DEG and UL DQS India and implemented by UL DQS India, ASSIST, and Gujarat Cleaner Production Center (GCPC). UNEP and UNIDO, meanwhile, served as knowledge partners (UNEP/UNIDO’s Responsible Production (RP) framework offers practical solutions for a systematic and effective management of chemical hazards, risk identification and reduction, and accident prevention).

The Project Team boasts of significant accomplishments for the 18 month-initiative: establishment of awareness on RP Framework among the chemical industries, conduct of local capacity building activities, and provision of direct technical assistance to 10 companies. Furthermore, the project featured the development of an elearning kit which was distributed to 500 SMEs to help them in the self-implementation of RP framework.

Among those present at the closing ceremony were ASSIST’s Projects and Grants Management Director Sathappan Sathappan, UL DQS’s Dr. Murugan and Dr. Vinit Mishra, and GCPC’s Member Secretary Mr. Bharat Jain.

Also providing a networking venue for all multistakeholders and SMEs, the forum gathered representatives of various industry associations, SMEs and non-profit organizations. #

LEAP Indonesia is a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project designed to help the businesses from five sectors (Cement, Iron and Steel, Textile, Power Plant and Palm Oil) 1) reduce their Green House Gas emissions, 2) become more energy-efficient and 3) contribute to the national plans of the government towards low-carbon economy.

The initiative is co-financed by PT TUV NORD Indonesia and German development bank DEG. ASSIST offers technical expertise, training and technical assistance to local companies for this project.

Through the activity, the project implementers sought to: 1. Strengthen commitment to work together to achieve the goals and objectives of the project; 2. Learn from your expertise and experience on how best to carry out the capacity-building phase of the project; 3.Generate inputs on the proposed training outline and topics to be covered; 4.Determine optimum strategies for recruiting training participants that will be developed as local trainers; 5. Identify complementaries and synergies with existing efforts and initiatives from government and other stakeholders .

Based on the inputs from the multistakeholder dialogues, training materials and technical assistance for the project would be fine-tuned. #

Top executives of industries in Sri Lanka convened for the PROmoting Sustainable Practices on Environment and Resource optimization (PROSPER) in Sri Lanka Project last January 30 at the Hilton Colombo Residence.

Co-financed by DEG and DQS UL and implemented by the Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation (ASSIST), DQS UL and Sri Lanka NCPC, PROSPER Sri Lanka aims to raise overall awareness on the need and means to implement Resource Efficient and Clean Production (RECP) methodologies and facilitate the transfer of knowledge through a series of training and capacity building initiatives.

The skill building training courses will target SMEs from manufacturing, textile and apparel, food and agro-processing sectors. The project will also help 10 companies with direct assistance for implementation of RECP.

The event was attended by DQS UL Managing Director Dr. K. Murugan, DQS UL AVP for Sales Amit A Tiwari. ASSIST was represented by Project and Grants Management Director Sathappan Sathappan and project coordinator Kruti Shah. Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka National Cleaner Production (NCPC) team was led by Director Mr. Sena Peiris and Deputy Director Mr. Samantha Kumarasena.

DQS UL’s Dr. K. Murugan gave an insight on the companies’ profiles, while Mr. Tiwari provided an introduction to the services offered by their organization. ASSIST’s Sathappan, on the other hand, discussed the organization’s profile, then the background and objectives of the 18-month project. He also tackled the concept of Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production (RECP) as a sound framework for businesses to adopt.

Various sectors represented at the forum include the chemicals industry, textile and services industry. They participated in an interactive discussion conducted to solicit inputs from the company representatives on the opportunities available under the framework.

Following the CEO Forum, the project implementers will also hold roundtable discussions, train-the-trainer workshops, and pilot implementation of the training curricula. #

With the theme “Harnessing Business Solutions Against Poverty”, the event served as a gathering for all its Board Members to hold their Annual Board Meeting, recognize of new trustees and member companies. Most importantly, the organization celebrated its 41st anniversary.

During the meeting, the board led by Manny Pangilinan discussed the key results of PBSP’s efforts in 2012, and planned programs and events for 2012. In addition, the board encouraged progressive efforts to create lasting impact on health, basic education, environment and livelihood  by fostering collaboration among its partner corporations.

Photo from BlogPhilippines.com

And at the Foundation Day Celebration, Keynote Speaker US Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr. came to express his support for PBSP’s advocacy and efforts geared towards poverty reduction.

Photo from TheMindanaoCurrent.blogspot.com

ASSIST and PBSP are planning to become partners in sustainability initiatives for the industries. #

The panel of judges was composed of Inquirer Photojournalist Raffy Lerma, Center for Environmental Concerns Executive Director Ces Quimpo and ASSIST Research and Knowledge Management Director Sheena Carmel Duco Opulencia.

Launched last year, the competition sought “ten compelling photos to shake the world and promote awareness on the state of the world environment.”

Winners will receive cash and gift packs from sponsors Petron, Kraft and Nestle.

Visit the competition’s official Facebook page by clicking here.#

The SAFE Cambodia Structured Program to Achieve Food Safety Excellence in Cambodia initiative conducted a Gap Analysis among nine pilot companies in Phnom Penh, Kompong Thom and Battambang last Dec. 12 to 17, 2011.

A Public-Private Partnership (PPP) initiative of TUV Rheinland and  Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation (ASSIST), it seeks to instill mass awareness on international food safety and cleanliness standards amongst local SMEs operating in the agriculture and fishery industry.

For the Gap Analysis, project partners TUV Rheinland and ASSIST assessed the companies’ capacity in implementing the international standards Good Manufacturing Practices, Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points (HACCP) and Food Safety Management System (FSMS)/ ISO 22000).

Following this activity, Project Consultant Ma. Lourdes Mangaban will develop the action plan for the companies to ensure compliance of their documentation and records to requirementsof GMP and HACCP.

The action plan will outline the steps to take, to prepare the participating companies for the rigorous certification process.

Pilot companies include caterers, water bottlers, and farm produce distributors.#

Food safety practitioners gathered for the multi-stakeholder forum of PRO-FIT (Promoting Food Industry Competitiveness Training Program) last January 12, 2012 at the Marriott Hotel in Pasay.

Co-financed by Sequa and BMZ, PRO-FIT is implemented by Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation (ASSIST), AFOS Foundation for Entrepreneurial Development Cooperation (AFOS), TUV Rheinland and UP Institute for Small Scale Industries (UP ISSI) that will run for 2 years.

It aims to train practitioners on a variety of qualification options on food safety and sanitation practices at the UP ISSI.

The vocational training courses will target Micro, Small and Medium enterprises of the country’s food products as well as beverage manufacturing sectors.

TUV Rheinland Philippines COO Tristan Loveres (COO, TUVR) welcomed the participants to the forum, while DOST XI Regional Director Dr. Anthony Sales and AGHAM Partylist Chief of Staff Dr. Florentino Tesoro discussed Food Safety Initiatives.

Meanwhile, AFOS Country Director Dr. Stephan Kunz and UP ISSI Director Prof. Nestor Raneses talked on the state of food safety in the Philippines, its challenges and opportunities. ASSIST Managing Director Sreenivas Narayanan provided a Project Overview.

Finally, TUV Rheinland’s Business Development Manager Pinky Villacrusis discussed the next steps and closed the program.

Through the event, the project implementers were able to solicit inputs from the representatives on the strengths and opportunities for harmonizing initiatives towards achieving food safety. Organizations also expressed support and offered contribution to the development of the training curricula.#

At the ceremony, Mithoon explained the importance of simple environment-friendly practices, such as planting trees, not using plastic, and conserving resources.

As he explains in his speech, “We’re all just normal people with our routine lives who hope that maybe we can make a difference. That’s what it’s going to take, everyday people all over the world realizing that each one of us has the potential to make a difference in our community and in our environment. But it starts with us; we have to be the messengers, and we have to be the ones who start caring about this planet we live on. It’s time to step out of our comfort zones and start taking action.”

He adds, “Our cause does not start and end with this rally. We must continue this struggle tomorrow and the day after and carry with us this dedication to the preservation of this planet.”

ASSIST India intends to spread the awareness to other schools. #