Bacolod NGO wins 2007 Philippine BiD Challenge competition
Bacolod City -- The Philippine BiD Challenge 2007 drew more attention and applicants a year after its launching in September 2006, generating 211 business plan entries from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
156 plan-finalists are qualified in the initial screening, representing 47 established and 109 start-up business nationwide ranging from various sectors such as agriculture, services, training, food, health, finance, etc. Forty-five (45) business entries reached the second round of the competition.
From these 45 entries, 10 best business ideas were selected and awarded cash prizes at the Philippine BiD Challenge Award event at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), Makati City. Business plan developed and submitted by Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation, Inc. (AIDFI) "Community-Based Lemon Grass Oil Production" was one of the 10 best business plans nominated and awarded. Present during the awarding of winners - His Excellency Robert Brinks, Ambassador of the Royal Netherlands and Mr. Manual V. Pangilinan, PBSP Chair and Chairman, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT). "Participation to the Philippine BiD Challenge competition will help us in the promotion and marketing of our products triggering to penetrate the international market of food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries," Aladino Moraca, Executive Director of AIDFI said in a statement.
The Business in Development (BiD) Challenge is a worldwide business plan competition run by the BiD Network Foundation which started in the Netherlands in 2004. The BiD Challenge is the first online community for poverty reduction and entrepreneurship in developing countries. It was organized by the Dutch National Development (NCDO), Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) Rabobank, TNT and partners. The BiD Challenge has now expanded to include one international competition and seven national competitions in countries like India, Philippines, Tanzania, Kenya, Argentina, Peru and Columbia.
The Philippine BiD Challenge was first launched in Manila in September, 2006 with Fair Ventures and the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) as main organizers. The Philippines was the very first in the world to host its own Local BiD Network with the support and participation of local partners. PIA)