Distinguished guests, honorable ladies and gentlemen, business associates, fellows, family and friends, assalamo alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatoh.

I am very honored for this opportunity to get to thank all of you for your active participation in this event. I see your presence here as a gesture of support to our advocacy to make a difference in the lives of our Bangsa Moro brethrens. I take it to mean your solidarity in our effort to wage war and WIN our fight against poverty and economic despondence in the Bangsa Moro.  We are gathered here today with the common aspiration and hope to rebuild the Bangsa Moro and activate its economic potentials.

It is common knowledge that Luzon, Visayas, and some other parts of Mindanao are enjoying vibrant economy, spurred by industrialization.Starkly on the other side, the Bangsa Moro is home to  2 OUT OF 10 poorest provinces in the Philippines accdg. to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The time is ripe for a shift in our economic orientation. Mindanao remains the land of promise. The Bangsa Moro, in particular, is blessed with abundant natural resources which can be tapped to fuel progress and development in the area. The creation of economic opportunities and promotion of robust investments in the Region will ultimately be the best solution in order to secure peace and stability in the Region.

I call it STOMACH DEV’T. which is key to achieving peace and order.

WE, the BFBCI, is here, offering ourselves as the conduit to networks of local and international  businessmen to the end that the economic condition in the Bangsa Moro is markedly improved.

Indeed, if the past 4 or so hours that we are together be any gauge of how the Bangsa Moro Federal Business Council will turn out, I am optimistic the BFBCI is headed for success In sha Allah. I credit that to our partnership with the government, our alliance and collaboration with the business sector, and of course, the cooperation of all the other stakeholders.

The positive response our Group gets today stirs up nostalgia. It might have been easy getting people to come aboard our cause, but it took enormous grit and perseverance to let them stay the course and keep our mission afloat. Thankfully those who remained committed to our avowed purpose and aspirations are great men and woman of substance. I am therefore proud of our team through the able leadership of Chairman Gani Macatoman and the rest of the officers and members of BFBCI. Alhamdulillah!

And so it is with great hope that today is not the end of our fruitful collaboration. But rather, today marks the beginning of our journey together as partners of Bangsa Moro towards economic prosperity. So forward we move. Hawak-kamay po taung lahat tungo sa pagbabago at kaunlaran. Walang iwanan. Maraming salamat po.

DATU NASRAILI B. CONDING

President, BFBCI