HARI Foundation, Inc., (HFI) the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arm of Hyundai Asia Resources, Incorporated (HARI), official distributor of Hyundai in the Philippines, and Gawad Kalinga (GK) held a ground breaking ceremony of the Hyundai Center for Green Innovation (HCGI) at the Enchanted Farm of the GK Center for Social Innovation (GK-CSI) in Barangay Encanto, Angat, Bulacan. 

The activity, held last October 7, 2012, marked the ninth anniversary of GK and the start of construction of the HCGI, a joint project of HFI and GK towards a shared value of building empowered and self-sustaining communities. HFI plays a significant role by providing not only the funds for building the HCGI but also in the conceptualization of its design and project management, making for the next big thing for both institutions’ long partnership in nation building.  

“This is to capture a major initiative in the country with Hyundai taking the lead in building the Hyundai Center for Green Innovation in the first ever Enchanted Farm. Together, we want to usher in a new phase of our work as we move towards creating a sustainable way of living for GK communities and others in the neighboring areas,” said GK Founder, Antonio Meloto.  

Inspired by Meloto ’s mantra for this environmental initiative, “Save the poor, save the environment;   Save the environment,  save the poor.” ,  the HCGI will serve as a venue to  train various stakeholders on best practices on environmental protection and preservation as well as educate the youth and other sectors on the importance of becoming responsible stewards of the environment. Echoing the design discipline of the GK-CSI, architects of the HFI utilized stone (stability), glass (transparency), and grass (resiliency) in the  HCGI’s fundamental  construction and fused these with the ethnicity of the “bahay kubo” and the Hyundai design philosophy of "Fluidic Sculpture”.  

The ceremonial ground breaking was led by HARI executives, Chairman Edward S. Go, Chairman Emeritus and HARI Foundation Chairman Richard L. Lee, and President and CEO and HARI Foundation President Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo together with GK Founder Antonio Meloto and GK Executive Director Jose Luis Oquiñena. The detailed HCGI scale model was unveiled by HARI, HFI and GK executives, which featured a 300-seater main hall, garden and four small breakout areas that will accommodate HCGI’s future “ green innovation camps”.

Last May 2012, HFI signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to formalize its shared commitment with GK to create a sustainable way of living for the GK communities.  

According to HARI President & CEO and HARI Foundation President, Ms. Agudo, the Hyundai-GK partnership has come a long way, spanning several projects, from providing transport to facilitate and widen the reach of GK to underprivileged communities all over the Philippines, to the construction of Hyundai Sibol schools in Leyte and Nueva Vizcaya, volunteer builds and the construction of the soon-to-rise and first-ever Hyundai-GK Village in Barangay Silver Heights, Caloocan.  

“When Tony (Meloto) approached us to help build the Center for Green Innovation, it wasn’t hard for us to support this new venture and move our partnership to a new field of endeavour. The care and preservation of the environment is HARI and Hyundai’s priority advocacies and once again we saw a shared vision for the environment with GK and the good that this will do for society as a whole.  Consider this, once more, another gift from Hyundai to our beloved nation,” said Ms. Agudo.