VZCZCXRO3992
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHML #0099/01 0100835
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 100835Z JAN 07 ZDS
FM AMEMBASSY MANILA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4598
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RHHMUNA/CDRUSPACOM HONOLULU HI IMMEDIATE
INFO RUEHZS/ASEAN COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 000099 
 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D C O P Y//ADD SLUG LINES// 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MTS 
STATE PASS USAID FOR AA/ANE AND AA/G 
USDOC FOR 4430/ITA/MAC/SBERLINGUETTE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EFIN ELAB EINV EAID PGOV RP
SUBJECT:  PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS ENHANCE DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS IN 
MINDANAO 
 
MANILA 00000099  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  Summary: USG agencies have been establishing partnerships 
between public and private organizations to maximize the reach of 
development programs in Mindanao.  Such collaborations have proven 
very successful and serve as a means to enhance capital, creativity, 
and technical expertise.  Public-private partnerships in Mindanao 
are designed to improve the economy and infrastructure, particularly 
in conflicted-affected areas, and address education, energy, health, 
micro-enterprise, agriculture, and trade development.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  Mindanao, the southernmost region of the Philippines which is 
blessed with abundant natural resources but includes some of the 
poorest provinces in the country, presents great potential for 
private investment to support sustainable development.  To encourage 
private sector investment, the USG is providing support to Mindanao 
through public-private partnerships.  These partnerships are 
arrangements in which the USG and/or the Philippine government 
collaborate with the private sector on projects to achieve 
development goals.  Such collaboration brings to the table private 
sector capital, creativity and technical expertise, enabling 
initiatives that may be otherwise be impossible given limited USG 
resources.  The USG, Philippine government, and private sector 
organizations can pool resources and share risks and responsibility. 
 An added benefit, of particular importance in Mindanao, is the 
encouragement of investment in the area as private sector 
involvement and comfort level increases. 
 
Education Projects Benefit from Private Sector 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶3.  Public-private partnerships in education in Mindanao are focused 
on two USAID-administered programs.  The Computer Literacy and 
Internet Connection (CLIC) program is providing Mindanao schools 
with computer equipment, internet connections, and training.  To 
date, partners' contributions have totaled over $1 million, 
benefiting over 400,000 students and nearly 12,000 teachers.  In 
2004 USAID launched the Education Quality and Access for Learning 
and Livelihood Skills project to improve access to quality education 
and livelihood skills in Mindanao. From FY 2004 to 2006, USAID 
provided $12.4 million to six private sector alliances led by 
international and domestic NGOs and local foundations. These 
institutions have brought an additional $23.3 million to the 
project.  In one case, an alliance that received a $500,000 grant 
from USAID will have provided $24 million in new supplementary 
educational materials and texts by the end of FY 2007. 
 
Partnerships Enhance Health Initiatives 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  USAID currently partners with private firms to provide 
tuberculosis control and family planning services in Mindanao.  In 
the past four years the Philippine Tuberculosis Initiatives for the 
Private Sector (PhilTIPS) project established 20 private TB clinics 
throughout the country, including Mindanao, with support from 
private businesses and the Philippine government.  Initiated in 
2004, USAID's Private Sector Mobilization for Family Health (PRISM) 
Project supports partnerships between the private sector and the 
Philippine government to improve maternal and child health and 
family planning in Mindanao and other urban centers.  One such 
public-private partnership is between Bukidnon's provincial 
government and Unifrutti, a private company that is establishing an 
employee referral system for family planning services.  To enhance 
market development, PRISM has awarded a grant to a private company 
to expand sales of contraceptives to public health facilities in 
Mindanao.  PRISM is also working with private practice midwives in 
Mindanao to expand their practices and work with the public health 
sector.  This improves the quality of public services and makes 
midwives' practices more profitable.  This helps alleviate the 
stress on the healthcare system due to outflow of personnel. 
 
Private Sector Finances Renewable Energy Systems 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶5.  The USG is supporting the Alliance for Mindanao Off-Grid 
Renewable Energy (AMORE), a public-private partnership enabling 
remote Mindanao communities to install, operate, and maintain 
renewable energy systems.  AMORE programs build community capacity 
to operate and maintain solar and micro-hydro systems, manage 
natural resources, and expand access to water and basic services. 
AMORE's public-private partnerships have proven quite successful, 
resulting in over 7,000 households in over 225 communities receiving 
electricity.  Mirant Foundation, AMORE's principal private partner, 
has contributed over $4 million in cash to procure solar energy 
systems.  A second U.S. company, Sunpower, has contributed over 
$500,000 to solar market development and school electrification. 
 
Micro-enterprises Benefit from Private Sector Financing 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
 
MANILA 00000099  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶6.  Small businesses comprise 91% of the businesses operating in the 
Philippines, and 40% of all households depend on income from 
micro-enterprises.   Microfinance programs utilizing public-private 
partnerships are assisting local banks in providing loans to 
micro-enterprises so they can expand and enter the formal sector. 
Through the Micro-enterprise Access to Banking Services program, 
USAID, in conjunction with the Rural Bankers Association of the 
Philippines, is assisting privately-owned rural banks in providing 
loan and deposit services to micro-enterprises in Mindanao. 
Affiliated banks have provided loans to over 318,000 
micro-enterprises in Mindanao.  In partnership with the World 
Council of Credit Unions, USAID is supporting efforts to bolster 
small credit unions through the Credit Union Empowerment and 
Strengthening Philippines program.  This program has increased 
access to credit on the part of the poor by helping restructure 40 
credit cooperatives in Mindanao and teaching them to engage in 
strategic planning and focus on key indicators needed to maintain 
financial stability. 
 
Private Companies Support Agricultural Initiatives 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶7.  With funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), 
several U.S. NGOs are supporting agricultural development in 
Mindanao, promoting poverty alleviation.  USDA has awarded a 
three-year, $2.4 million Food for Progress award to Agricultural 
Cooperative Development International and Volunteers in Overseas 
Cooperative Assistance (ACDI/VOCA), a private nonprofit organization 
working with local NGOs to help small farmers establish and expand 
cocoa production in Davao.  ACDI/VOCA is partnering with the USG, 
Philippine government, and private sector to improve cocoa 
production through training, fermentation and drying centers, 
enhanced seedling production and international quality standards. 
 
¶8.  USDA also provides support for the Cold Chain Association of the 
Philippines, which provides education, training, and technical 
assistance to the Philippine food industry.  Through this program, 
Philippine companies specializing in perishable foods are improving 
the importation, storage, handling and distribution of their 
products in order to meet new and evolving world food standards.  In 
2004, Catholic Relief Services received a three-year Food for 
Progress grant for $3.3 million to improve existing production 
practices for high-value crops, develop product markets, and ensure 
basic infrastructure exists for agricultural production in the 
targeted communities in Mindanao through local NGO partners.  In 
2006, USDA approved a Food for Progress grant of $4.0 million to 
Land O'Lakes Inc. to expand its dairy development and school milk 
feeding program to 3 new dairy zones, including one in Mindanao. 
 
USG Partners with Mindanao Chambers 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  The U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service in Manila (FCS Manila) 
is working to expand Mindanao private business development and 
enhance U.S. trade links in Mindanao.  To this end, FCS Manila has 
established Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with 16 Mindanao-based 
Chambers of Commerce to help partner U.S. companies with 
Mindanao-based firms.  The MOUs are informal agreements to develop 
trade opportunities, share business contacts, and engage in joint 
business promotion activities.  The USAID GEM Program also partially 
supports 15 Chambers of Commerce and other business support 
organizations in Mindanao. 
 
KENNEY