Working Paper Project Rationale

The Project “Regional Programme on Remittances and Diaspora Investment for Rural

Development” started in April 2015. The project’s over-all goal is to develop scalable

models for supporting investment by migrants and their families’ in poverty reducing

rural enterprises; while its specific objective is to establish inclusive youth- and gender-

sensitive remittance-related financial products and services, facilitating investment and

savings of US$20mn in diaspora capital into 2 apexes and 10 local financial institutions

in Nepal and Philippines.

The project’s specific objectives include: (1) Developing financial services for migrants

and their remittance recipient families that enable them to save and invest safely with

financial institutions that finance rural economic activities in countries of origin; (2)

Enhance capacity of migrants and their families to save and invest, and provide access

to secured savings and investment products in countries of origin; and (3) Disseminating

successful models for channeling diaspora capital towards rural economic activities, in

target countries.

In terms of outcomes, the following are expected: (1) Systems for targeting migrants

and migrant families as well as delivering deposit and investment products combined

with product promotion embedded in financial education training to them are integrated

into the service delivery of participating financial institutions; (2) The savings capacity of

migrants and migrant families is enhanced, their awareness of specialized savings and

investment products is raised, and their usage of such products to build assets is

increased; and (3) Awareness about approach, tools, methods and outcomes of the

project as well as opportunities for expansion or replication is raised among stakeholders

such as financial service providers, regulators, migrant and migrant-support groups in all

target countries.

The project’s first 8 months were devoted to research. The research phase was done for

the following: (1) Identification of locations where there is a high concentration of

Overseas Filipino (OF) families and understand their needs; (2) Identification of Financial

Institutions operating in the area and understand their capacity and willingness to be

involved in the project; (3) Identification of destination countries having large

concentration of OFs and understand their needs; and (4) Determining the structure of

the investment funds and the technical assistance needs of apexes who will offer them.

After the completion of the research phase, the Project was formally launched in the

Philippines last February 12, 2016. Ten (10) primary cooperatives were chosen to

implement the project.

Project Partners ACCESS Advisory A non-profit financial inclusion consultancy firm, headquartered in Manila and operating throughout Asia. The organization’s mission is to contribute to the grass-roots development using financial access as a tool. It was founded in 2009, originally as an affiliate of the international NGO PlaNet Finance. It specializes in rural and agricultural finance, including product design and strengthening internal systems of financial institutions. ACCESS mainly works throughout Asia, with offices in Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar, although has experience in Africa and Europe. It has worked on assignments funded by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), World Bank (WB), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), European Union (EU), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Belgium Technical Cooperation (BTC), GIZ, Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (ACF), Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and a number of private sector organizations. NATCCO Network The National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO) is a nationwide network of more than 700 cooperatives and NGOs in 77 provinces and 130 cities. The members operate a combined 1,217 offices serving more than 3 million individual members. NATCCO is biggest federations of cooperatives in the Philippines, in terms of assets, and one of the biggest in terms of geographical reach, membership, and array of financial services.

Cooperative Partners - From the 800 member cooperatives of NATCCO all over

the Philippines, the project has chosen 10 partner cooperatives that will provide

savings and wealth-building products and services to OFs and OF families. From the

stringent selection process, the 10 cooperatives were chosen to serve the needs of

the OFS and OF families. These co-ops, apart from their impressive net worth and

outreach, have also blazed the trails in improving the socio-economic lives of their

members and the community.

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) A specialized agency of the United Nations, established as an international financing institution in 1977 as one of the major outcomes of the 1974 World Food Conference; goal is to finance agricultural development projects primarily for food production in the developing countries. IFAD is dedicated to eradicating rural poverty in developing countries.

Launching Goals and Objectives Overall, the launching at the destination countries are kick-off activities to the actual promotion of the project to the overseas Filipinos. The following are expected to be achieved: 1. Lay the foundation of a trusting relationship between the project and the Embassies in

the 2 destination/host countries 2. Increase knowledge of OFs (at least key FILCOM leaders) on the project 3. Increase appreciation of the OFs on the project through the messages of support of key

government agencies 4. Increase awareness among OFs (at least key FILCOM leaders) on cooperatives as a

legitimate and stable financial institutions offering wealth building products and services 5. Allow coop-representatives to understand and appreciate the condition of OFs 6. Firm up strategies and schedules for FINLIT and product promotions 7. Allow better appreciation of the representatives of the Nepali migrants on ACCESS

Advisory and the project

Program of Activities

8:30 – 9:00 AM 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Registration Launching Proper

- Invocation - National Anthem - Welcome Remarks:

o Mr. Ronald Bevacqua, Managing Director, ACCESS Advisory o Ms. Sylvia O. Paraguya, Chief Executive Officer, NATCCO

- Project Presentation (Regional Level and Country-Specific): o Ms. Connie Hina, ACCESS Advisory Chief Technical Director

- Introduction of Project Stakeholders in the Philippines (Short Video Showing) - Introduction of Nepali -guests /Potential Project Partners - Keynote Message – His Excellency Raul S. Hernandez

Ambassador Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary - Short Messages of Support:

1. Bangko Sental ng Pilipinas (BSP) 2. Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO)

Secretary Imelda M. Nicolas - Chairperson 3. Cooperative Development Authority (CDA)

Orlando R. Ravanera - Chairperson - Open Forum - Messages from Cooperative Leaders (1 from each Cluster) - Response from a FILCOM Leader

- Message of Encouragement: Mila Nuval-Peña OIC-Philippine Overseas Labor Office and Welfare Officer

12:00 – 1:30 PM Lunch

1:30 – 4:00 PM

Consultation Meeting between and among Filipino Stakeholders

1. Brief Presentations (10 minutes each) - Uncovering “Cooperatives as reliable financial institutions” – Mr. Raul

Calayan, NATCCO Network Chief Operations Officer - Understanding the project approaches and activities – Mr. Edwin Peraz,

ACCESS Philippine Country Manager

2. Mapping out project implementation issues and concerns (to be facilitated by Ms. Lasalette Gumban and Mr. Ruben Simon)

- How financial education and product promotion must be conducted; - Possible project hurdles (what to avoid and manage in the implementation) - Possible success factors (what must we do; what’s the right approach as we

implement)

3. Synthesis of Discussions and Way Forward

4. Closing