Photo above shows Geneva-based International Trade Center (ITC) senior adviser Roger Megelas (right) and ITC adviser Mauren Devolder conferring with Plantersbank chairman Ambassador Jesus P. Tambunting at the start of the conference.Plantersbank recently played host to the two-day roundtable meeting of SME development experts from the Philippines and neighboring Asian countries to discuss plans of setting up a Regional SME Finance and Knowledge Center in the country.
The Center, which is being spearheaded by Plantersbank in partnership with the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP), the ITC and the International Institute for Trade and Development of Thailand, will be the first to set up in Asia and provide facilities to educate bankers on SME financing systems and processes as well as provide a resource center for the SME sector.
Also participating in the meeting were experts from the Small Industries Development Bank of India, SME Bank Malaysia, Department of Trade and Industry, the University of the Philippines Institute for Small Scale Industries (UPISSI), the Department of Trade and Industry and the ADFIAP Consulting Group.