Friday, September 30, 2005
Plantersbank hosts SME Training Center
Planters Development Bank and the Association of Development Finance Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP) will set up a regional training center for microfinance promotion and small and medium enterprise development. This initiative aims to energize development finance activities in countries from Central Asia to the island nations of the Pacific.
The Manila-based SME Center for Training and Advisory Services will serve as the backbone of capacity building efforts under the SME Finance Initiative signed by representatives of the Geneva-based International Trade Center (ITC) of the UNCTAD/World Trade Organization, ADFIAP and the Association of Development Finance Institutions of Malaysia (ADFIM) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
“The SME Center is a much-awaited development,” said Ambassador Jesus P. Tambunting, chairman and chief executive officer of Plantersbank. The Center is expected to drive regional SME and microcredit initiatives forward through the promotion of best practices, the exchange of opinions, and the enrichment of development finance profession throughout the region.
Plantersbank recently organized the International Workshop Seminar on Small Business Credit with ShoreCap Exchange, the development advisory service of ShoreBank, the leading small business-oriented, community bank in the United States. This international seminar was participated in by more than 30 senior executives and development managers from nine Asian and African nations.
Euro Green Initiative
Plantersbank also announced that the European Commission is providing 346,000 euros to promote environmental governance standards for development finance institutions in the Asia-Pacific Region.
Ambassador Tambunting hailed the grant saying it will encourage development finance institutions to make permanent policies and practices that include environment standards in the loan evaluation process.
ADFIAP is the premier organization of 62 state-run and private development banks and institutions in the region. Plantersbank is the acknowledged leader in SME finance in the Philippines and is the country’s largest private development bank.