BOI eyes inclusivity as part of government incentives policy

The Board of Investments (BOI) gathered last week representatives of various government agencies to generate insights and recommendations on the proposal to integrate inclusive business (IB) in government policies.

IBs are innovative models in which companies engage the poor and low-income communities as partners, customers, suppliers, and employees in their supply chains not out of charity, but because it makes good business sense.

The integration of these communities into global value chains improves their quality of lives and makes for better business with diversified supply and distribution systems.

Recognizing the power of IBs in achieving inclusive growth, government is promoting these models and encouraging more companies to adopt IB models or develop IB solutions.

One such effort is the inclusion of IB policy in BOI’s 2014-2016 Investment Priorities Plan, in which registered enterprises are encouraged to adopt IB strategy that provides goods and services and income and decent work opportunities for the low-income segment of the society within the enterprise’s supply or value chain, directly contributing to the improvement of living standards and poverty reduction.

Such insights and recommendations are important to craft policies that will further enable local industries and sectors to be globally competitive, while ensuring that they also strike a balance between being profitable and taking into account the social good by involving the host communities of their businesses in their value chains.

IB models help address different challenges in developing countries such as the Philippines, where poverty remains a problem.

In the Asia-Pacific region, more than 700 million people live below the $1.25-per-day poverty line, a group called the base of the pyramid.

IB models transform the base of the pyramid into a new market for goods and services, as well as a resource pool of talent, skilled labor, and entrepreneurs. This relationship strengthens value chains and ensures the sustainability of businesses and their host communities.