The Seminar is part of a greater ECLAC project whose aim is to promote the development of a greater array of financial instruments that would allow development banks to boost the financial inclusion of the SME sector, given that SMEs play a central role in the productive fabric and job creation in the regional economies.

More specifically, the project centers on the state of financial inclusion in seven Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru) and on the policies that development banks could pursue in order to promote financial inclusion. The final objective of the project is to identify and promote the development of a wide set of financial instruments that would allow development banks to foster the financial inclusion of SMEs, given that these play a central role in the productive fabric and job creation.

The Seminar showcased the results of the regional study on financial inclusion and the role that development banks play in promoting it through innovative financial policies. The regional study is based on the aforementioned seven national case studies.

The presentation and discussion of this regional study were complemented by four thematic sessions that consisted of (i) economic/financial sustainability: profitability and capital structure of development banks vis-à-vis their development mission; (ii) the scope of financial inclusion policies; (iii) innovative financial instruments for financial inclusion; (iv) new topics for financial inclusion: the emergence of FinTechs and their implications for SME financing.

The seminar report sums up the key points of the discussions.