The Land Bank of the Philippines and the Cooperative Development Authority teamed up again on the Financial Inclusion Through Cooperatives Program to provide capacity-building support to micro and small cooperatives in unbanked and underserved areas nationwide.
Through the FIT-Coop Program, about 220 cooperatives with more than 31,000 members from 92 unbanked municipalities all over the country will undergo financial literacy trainings to better prepare them to access formal credit assistance.
“The signing of this MOA for the FIT-Coop Program is a momentous and historical event”•a great breakthrough in putting those in the margins into the mainstream of the development process. This will also be a great leap forward for CDA to fulfill its mandate to promote the viability and growth of cooperatives as instruments of social justice and economic development,” said CDA chairman Orlando Ravanera said.
LandBank president Cecilia Borromeo said the FIT-Coop Program was a clear display of the bank’s continuous commitment to reach the smallest cooperatives in the most far-flung areas and empower them to become catalysts for inclusive growth in the countryside.