Plantersbank urges SMEs to go green

MANILA, Philippines – Coming from its successful hosting of the 9th Annual Meeting of the APEC Financial Institutions Dealing with Small and Medium Enterprise (APEC SME), Plantersbank, the country’s leading SME bank, wants to take the lead in transforming SMEs into green and triple bottom line (3BL) companies like itself.

“The future of business is green. Better yet, the future of business will be green. Together, let us make it so,” Plantersbank chairman and CEO Amb. Jesus P. Tambunting declared in his speech before foreign delegates, government officials and local businessmen attending the conclusion of the three-day annual APEC SME event in Sofitel hotel held recently.

“We aim to inspire the SMEs likewise to take the 3BL approach as a matter of good citizenship and good business,” Tambunting also said during the first ever APEC SME meet held in Manila. Representatives of the group’s member banks Standard Chartered Bank Hong Kong, Japan Finance Corp., Industrial Bank of Korea, the Association of Banks in Malaysia, Nacional Financiera S.N.C of Mexico, Planters Development Bank, Association of Banks in Singapore, the Taiwan Cooperative Bank, the SME Development Bank of Thailand, and Vietnam’s Vietin Bank attended the event aimed at fostering cooperation among SME banks in APEC member economies.

3BL refers to a business that is earning, helping the community and preserving the environment at the same time. Plantersbank is able to conduct business this way after decades of providing financial services to countryside enterprises. “We see ourselves playing a lead role in leapfrogging the SME sector in this country to go green,” said Tambunting. “Plantersbank is well-placed to integrate environmental management in the upgrading of fledgling enterprises.”

Tambunting cited the bank’s own green initiatives and support for green design and technology of its SME clients. Plantersbank has a strict policy against financing environmentally and socially harmful projects involving coal and child labor. Its employees volunteer in reforestation and wetlands rehabilitation efforts.

There is a company program to reduce, reuse and recycle paper and other office consumables. Urban poor people connected with a client of the Bank crafted souvenir tote bags for APEC SME delegates out of discarded glossy magazines and newsletters. This year, the bank started using 100 percent recycled paper for its bi-monthly SME Magazine and annual report plus eliminated the plastic packaging for these publications. It also started limiting production of printed reports and encourages the use of digital copies on its website.

The bank’s corporate building in Makati City was redesigned to incorporate energy-efficient, water-saving, and climate control features to help minimize carbon footprint. Likewise, Plantersbank branches have been using energy-saving LED signage technology since 2008 substantially reducing electric consumption.

Plantersbank participated in the Green Philippines Islands of Sustainability, an initiative funded by the European Union’s SWITCHAsia Program. Under the program, industrial companies in Metro Manila and Calabarzon region are introduced to measures to save on energy, cut down on wastage and promote best environmental practices.

“Our involvement with Ecoswitch is a step towards the development of facilities and services to finance clean production, energy efficiency, green design technology and supply chains, and sustainable business practice for SMEs,” Tambunting said.

Plantersbank provided the first loan to Coconut Technology Corp. (COCOTECH), which produces and installs coconut fiber anti-erosion nets for public works as a more durable, nature-friendly alternative to expensive concrete riprap. The bank financed the first green-designed building in Bulacan province for Baliuag University.

Plantersbank’s efforts to go green combined with its 40 years of service to SMEs enabled it to achieve the so-called triple bottom line, which it calls “People, Profit and Planet.” By serving SMEs, the bank already fulfills the social aspect of 3BL. The SME sector account for 9 out of 10 registered businesses in the country, contributes a quarter of gross national product, and provides jobs to half of the labor force. They are a lead sector in stimulating economic growth and fighting of poverty particularly in the countryside.

The bank has since realized continuing growth and profitability by serving its market niche. From an asset base of P500,000 when it started as a rural bank in Bulacan in 1972, Plantersbank now ranks as the 19th largest banking institution in the Philippines and the country’s largest private development bank, largest independent thrift bank and leading SME bank with resources worth P53 billion.

SMEs can also achieve 3BL status by replicating the Plantersbank’s efforts, especially with the help of the bank itself. “We are committed to enabling entrepreneurs and promoting community well-being, respect for the planet, and enlightened private interest,” said Tambunting. By sharing its 3BL experience to APEC SME banks, Plantersbank also hopes to inspire entrepreneurs in Asia to work to achieve the status for the benefit of the business, people and the planet.