United Nations
The UN Economic Commissions ECLAC and ESCAP took actions to facilitate financial inclusion for SMEs in ASIA and Latin America
Work area(s)
The two regional commissions organized a seminar on financial inclusion in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), The Asia Foundation (AF), the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), and the Center for International Cooperation (CIFC) of the Korean Institute of Finance.
The event brought together government officials and development bank representatives from 25 countries, experts from academia and the private sector, as well as international organizations, among others. The meeting provided an opportunity for a rich debate and the consideration of both market-based approaches and the role that national development banks can play in promoting financial inclusion of SMEs. Among other topics, the seminar also examined ways to improve countries’ lending infrastructure and financial regulation, and looked into the opportunities and challenges arising from the rapid expansion of FinTechs. Above all, the Seminar was an important step taken to improve interregional cooperation and the sharing of experiences between Asia and the Pacific with Latin America to offer the necessary support to the countries of these regions so that they could implement effective policies and reforms that improve financial inclusion of SMEs.
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