ICCO is one of the five Netherlands co-financing organizations, and supports projects, organizations, and programmes in developing countries through funds provided by the Dutch government and the European Union. ICCO has its roots in the Protestant-Christian churches and Christian social organizations in the Netherlands. It cooperates with some nine hundred partner-organizations in four continents. For the main reason that the supporting and strengthening of the civil society is an indispensable link in realizing long-lasting social development, ICCO aims at cooperation with partner organizations that harness their efforts to combat poverty at the local level and play an active role in the civil society.

ICCO has been NRBSL's strategic partner since the Bank's inception in 1994.

P.O. Box 151
3700 AD Zeist
The Netherlands
Phone: +31 30 692 7816
Fax: +31 30 692 5614
Email: admin@icco.nl
Website: www.icco.nl

On August 11, 1995 the Governments of the Philippines and Switzerland signed a Bilateral Agreement on the Reduction of the External Debt. Through this agreement, Philippine bilateral debt to Switzerland was cancelled with the creation of a fund equivalent to 50 percent of the debt's face value. The value of this fund in Philippine pesos was PhP 454,822,597 in September 1995.

The Foundation for a Sustainable Society, Inc. (FSSI) is a non-stock, non-profit foundation organized to manage and administer this fund.

The key terms in the Foundation's vision are:

1. the support and promotion of sustainable enterprises that are community-oriented, ecologically sound, and economically viable; and
2. projects that provide maximum benefit for the maximum number of beneficiaries

FSSI was established with the mission to serve as a resource institution for the economic empowerment of enterprising rural and urban communities in the Philippines.

It is managed by and is accountable to Philippine NGOs and to the broader public. The Philippine Government, through the Department of Finance, and the Swiss Confederation are represented in the Assembly and the Board of Trustees.

The FSSI is another one of NRBSL's strategic partner-NGOs.

Unit E #46 Samar Avenue corner Scout Albano Street
South Triangle, Quezon City
Philippines 1103
Phone: +63 2 411 4702; +63 2 411 4703
Fax: +63 2 928 8671
Email: fssi@fssi.com.ph
Website: www.fssi.org

The Small Business Guarantee and Finance Corporation (SBGFC) is a government corporate body created on January 24, 1991 by virtue of Section 11 of Republic Act 6977, as amended by Republic Act 8289, otherwise known as the Magna Carta for Small Enterprises. SBGFC is under the supervision of the Small and Medium Enterprise Development (SMED) Council which is the primary agency for the promotion and development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Philippines. SBGFC's mandate is to source and adopt development initiatives for globally competitive SMEs in terms of finance, technology, production, management, and business linkages. It is also mandated to support the development of small and medium enterprises all over the country through the provision of various alternative modes of financing and credit delivery systems.

SBGFC is one of NRBSL's partner agencies in bringing financial assistance within reach of micro-, small-, and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) in the countryside through various rediscounting and medium term project funding facilities of SBGFC made available with NRBSL as the conduit of SBGFC funds.

17th & 18th Floors, 139 Corporate Center
139 Valero Street, Salcedo Village
Makati City, 1227 Philippines
Phone: +63 2 810-5791 or 95
Fax: +63 2 813-5726
Email: sbgfc@info.com.ph
Website: www.info.com.ph/~sbgfc

Land Bank of the Philippines

Rural banking was established through the Rural Banking Act of 1952 to help farmers, fisherfolks, and the rural communities. The Rodriguez Rural Bank was first established in 1952 in Pasig, Rizal followed by the founding of 18 rural banks in 1953 in various parts of the archipelago. This grew, in a span of three years, to 26 banks. To strengthen the bond among rural banks, Alfredo Montelibano, Sr. of the Rural Bank of Bacolod City led the 18 banks in initially forming a voluntary grouping in 1955. This was the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines, incorporated on August 26, 1957 to serve as the official representative body of the rural banking system.

Since its inception in 1994, the New Rural Bank of San Leonardo has been an active member of the RBAP. NRBSL President & CEO Andres G. Panganiban served in various capacities as officer of the national association. He became Corporate Secretary of the RBAP and the Rural Bankers Research and Development Foundation, Inc. (RBRDFI) for the fiscal years 1998-1999 and 2002-2003. He was the RBAP and RBRDFI Treasurer for the fiscal year 2001-2002. He was commissioned to be the Consultant in one of RBAP's projects in cooperation with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) - the Micro finance Access to Banking Services in Mindanao (MABS-M) during its (MABS') establishment years. The project was contracted by Chemonics International, USA.

Under the RBAP's leadership are the various regional confederations and provincial federations of rural banks in the country. Mr. Panganiban was the former President of the Confederation of Central Luzon Rural Banks (CCLRB) for two consecutive terms: fiscal year 2001-2002 and fiscal year 2002-2003. He was the President of the Nueva Ecija Federation of Rural Banks (NEFRB) for the fiscal years 1998-1999, 1999-2000, and 2000-2001.

During his terms of office in the national and regional associations of rural bankers, Mr. Panganiban convened the Luzon Rural Bankers Conference on Standards, Micro finance, and Local Economies (Luzon SMILES) last February, 2002 with its theme The Role of Rural Banks in the Development of Local Economies. Last February, 2003, he again convened the Second Luzon SMILES Conference, this time with the theme Raising the Standards of Rural Banking.

RBAP Building
A. Soriano, Jr. Ave. cor. Arzobispo St.
1002 Intramuros, Manila
Phone: +63 2 5272968; +63 2 5272972
Fax: +63 2 5272980; +63 2 5272969
Email: rbap@info.com.ph
Website: www.rbap.org