ADB to Host Regional Conference on Expanding Commercial Microfinance
MANILA,
The conference kicks off a weeklong series of events organized by ADB as part of the global efforts to promote sustainable, commercial microfinance, and to contribute to the celebration of 2005 as the International Year of Microcredit.
"Microfinance is considered today as one of the effective development tools for poverty reduction. However, microfinance development is an unfinished agenda and a majority of the poor still do not have access to a broad spectrum of financial services," says Nimal Fernando, ADB's Lead Rural Finance Specialist.
"Through these events, ADB hopes to increase public awareness and knowledge about cutting-edge issues in microfinance, share good practices, and promote sustainable programs of assistance and operations that will eventually close the wide gap between the demand for, and supply, of sustainable financial services for the poor."
The United Nations launched the International Year of Microcredit 2005 as part of an effort to build support for making financial services more accessible to the poor.
The conference, which brings together policymakers, microfinance service providers and academics from about 20 countries, will address issues such as the future of commercial microfinance in
It will also explore whether alternative financial institutions, such as rural development banks, postal savings banks, and national savings banks have a meaningful role to play in microfinance.
ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda will give the opening remarks during the conference, and recognized industry leaders such as Marguerite Robinson, author of the seminal book The Microfinance Revolution, and Stuart Rutherford, the founder of SafeSave in Bangladesh, will present keynote speeches.
The governor of the central bank of Mongolia and senior officials of the central banks of Pakistan and the Philippines will also give talks. In attendance will be representatives of funding agencies from the World Bank, USAID, and United Nations Development Programme.
The two-day conference will be followed by a one-day regional consultation meeting on "Building Inclusive Financial Sectors for Development," organized in coordination with the United Nations Capital Development Fund and the Financing for Development Office of the United Nations Department of Economics and Social Affairs.
A training workshop on the role of governments in microfinance for staff of funding agencies will be held on 17 March in cooperation with the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, and the week will close with a national forum on housing microfinance in the
ADB has supported the microfinance industry in the region since 1988 through loans, grants, and policy advice. In 2000, ADB formulated a Microfinance Development Strategy to further strengthen its assistance to the sector.
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