Thursday, November 30, 2006 Foreign donors focusing on Mindanao development By Joy Romares-Sevilla
A CONSULTANT of the Mindanao Business Council (MinBC) said Wednesday that foreign donor agencies are focusing on Mindanao development in a bid to improve the economy of the island, as well as to eradicate poverty.
Peter Reger, a German consultant of the Bimp-Eaga and SME-Development of MinBC, said during the Club 888 media forum Wednesday that about 60 percent of the total foreign assistance poured in the country goes to Mindanao.
"We have to improve the situation to avoid poverty, we have to solve the problem, we need hard work to overcome that," Reger said.
Reger added that private sector has a vital role to change the situation and they have to do their role.
"Business people have a nose, if they say they can do it, then they can, they can earn money, so many people here in Mindanao even those who are not businessmen, are clever, they work hard," Reger said.
Reger claimed that there are a lot of solutions he can see to solve poverty but the question is where to start.
"Normal people have much potential to realize the dreams to solve the situation, maybe SMEs can be used to realize that dreams," he said.
