BDO builds micro-finance centre for marginalised sector

A US$258,000 centre for the microfinance programmes of the CARD MRI Development Institute has been completed by Banco de Oro.

The three-storey BDO Foundation Micro-Finance Center in Bgy. Tranca, Bay, Laguna will serve a training and development site.  

"We believe that expanding the reach of micro-finance throughout the nation especially in the countryside will help alleviate the immediate financial concerns of the underprivileged and assist in financing or growing the entrepreneurial micro-businesses. This training center that we donated is intended to further enhance the current programme of CARD MRI," said Teresita Sy-Coson, chairperson of BDO, who led the inauguration.

Apart from donating the building, BDO will likewise provide additional support, sending volunteers from the Bank's Speakers Bureau to deliver talks and facilitate training activities on computer application, basic accounting, personality development, personal finance and skills training, among others.

CARD MRI or Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development - Mutually Reinforcing Institutions, spearheaded by Dr. Jaime Aristotle Alip, is the country's leading innovator in micro-finance. Known initially as CARD, it was established in 1986 as a social development institute to address the growing poverty incidence in depressed communities. It is now comprised of seven organisations committed to build sustainable financial and capacity-building institutions owned and led by socially and economically challenged families.