BDO Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of BDO Unibank, has forged ties with Mitsubishi Corp. for a corporate citizenship initiative that benefits more than 100 rice farmers in Nueva Ecija.
The partnership was formalized through the signing of the memorandum of understanding by Mitsubishi Corp. Manila General Manager Keiichi Matsunaga and Corporate Sustainability and CSR Department General Manager Takehiro Fujimura with BDO Foundation Trustee and Treasurer Lucy Co Dy and BDO Foundation President Mario Deriquito.
Mitsubishi Corp. and BDO Foundation have agreed to provide capacity enhancement training to the Kooperatibang Likas ng Nueva Ecija farmers’ organization.
In partnership with National University, the foundation started to facilitate financial education training for members of the cooperative.
Professors and volunteer speakers from the university shared lessons with beneficiaries on such topics as saving, budgeting, simple accounting, proposal writing, entrepreneurship, and product costing to help improve the financial literacy and productivity of the farmers.
Through the training sessions, participants also explored alternative ways to generate income.
As part of the understanding, the partners will also turn over tractors to the farmers organization. Project managed by BDO Foundation, the joint initiative was made possible by a donation from Mitsubishi Corp.
“We would like to express our appreciation to Mitsubishi Corporation for making BDO Foundation its partner of choice for the implementation of its corporate social responsibility program in the Philippines,” Deriquito said.
“Our collaboration is a significant step towards the achievement of our shared goal to make a difference for underserved sectors of society,” he added.
“The idea of growing together with communities and contributing to build sustainable societies is deeply rooted in the corporate culture of Mitsubishi Corporation,” Matsunaga said.
“I very much look forward to continuing to work with BDO Foundation on this shared journey to support capacity building efforts that can create positive, long-term impact within local communities,” he added.
Mitsubishi Corp. is a global integrated business enterprise with business operations in Natural Gas, Industrial Materials, Petroleum & Chemicals, Mineral Resources, Industrial Infrastructure, Automotive & Mobility, Food Industry, Consumer Industry, Power Solution and Urban Development.
The Tokyo-based multinational has offices and subsidiaries in approximately 90 countries and regions.