Friday, July 06, 2007 CFIF signs agreement for subcons’ project
THE Cebu Furniture Industries Foundation Inc. (CFIF) launched the Subcontractor Development Program last week after signing partnership deals in a ceremony called, “Forging Partnerships: Strengthening Alliances for the Furniture Industry.”
After the success of last year’s Project I-Build, a collaborative effort with Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), CFIF hoped to make the same impact it had brought the first wave of subcontractor participants.
CFIF signed a memorandum of understanding with the Private Enterprise Accelerating Resource Linkage (Pearl) 2 and the German Development Service (DED) for the implementation of the program.
Pearl 2 project director Ed Sutherland, CFIF president Michael Basubas and DED coordinator for economic and employment promotions Bernhard Willig endorsed the partnership. The signing was witnessed by CFIF executive director Ruby Salutan, DED consultant Christopher Koeppel and Ambassador of Canada Peter Sutherland.
Support
In a speech, Sutherland said the Canadian government will continue to proactively support projects like the Subcontractors Development Program which identify with their own goals of poverty alleviation, employment generation and gender equality.
Meanwhile, a memorandum of agreement was also signed for the industry-academe collaboration between CFIF and the University of San Carlos (USC).
This partnership started with a series of trainings which led to the alliance for the conduct of the new financial management and control seminars for subcontractor participants.
Basubas and USC vice president for academic affairs Fr. Teodoro Gapuz signed the agreement, along with USC Dean Fr. Mark Mathiasand and Salutan.
In another development, SEA Olympus Marketing Inc., entered into an agreement with German Development Service and CFIF for a subcontractors advantage card, which will serve as a discount facility for subcontractors as they purchase tools and materials from SEA Olympus Marketing.
These alliances are foreseen to contribute to the enhancement of the capabilities of the mar-ginalized sector of the value chain, the subcontractor group. (PR)
