MANILA: The National Development Company (NDC) and Seoul-based Global Green Growth Institution (GGGI) partnered to support the development of local startups that provide green and sustainable solutions.
On Wednesday, NDC General Manager Anton Mauricio and GGGI Country Representative Marcel Silvius signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that will provide capacity building and capital to green-based startups.
Under the MOU, GGGI will provide technical and vocational education training, technical assistance, and experts’ advice to companies that are engaged in the waste management, sustainable forestry, and green circular economy.
For NDC’s part, the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) investment arm, it can provide financing from its traditional equity funding, debt financing, the Startup Venture Fund (SVF), or combination of these schemes to startup entities once they mature and their products and services are commercially viable.
‘The MOU signing between the NDC and GGGI marked a key opportunity
for NDC to tap into the technical expertise and assistance that could be offered by GGGI in helping NDC — with an overall thrust for signing-on more green-based start-ups. This is a perfect alignment with NDC’s forward-thinking investment priority sectors — one key highlight would be in the area of sustainability, balancing the country’s needs today for tomorrow’s preservation,’ the NDC said in a statement.
Silvius said the GGGI, whose president is the former United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, focuses its initiatives on helping developing countries like the Philippines that are being affected by climate change.
GGGI is a treaty-based international development organization dedicated to supporting and promoting projects in developing and emerging economies that will transform them into a green growth economic model.
On the other hand, Mauricio highlighted that NDC supports projects that are pioneering, developmental, sustainable, inclusive, and innovative.
He mentioned that climate change mitig
ation is one of the priority sectors of NDC for investments.
Source: Philippines News Agency