MF Summit in March

Kathmandu, Feb. 22: Fourth Microfinance Summit Nepal, 2017 has been slated for March 15 to 17 in Kathmandu.

“The summit will explore various perspectives on understanding the microfinance sector and resolving various problems the sector has been facing, and will deliberate on various issues, challenges and effective collaboration and coordination among various stakeholders, including the regulator,” said Pitambar Prasad Acharya, chairman of the Summit Steering Committee.

The conference will be organised with the theme ‘balancing financial, social and human values’.

“We will assess the impact of policies pertaining to the microfinance sector and regulator’s directives on the business and performance of the microfinance companies,” said Acharya.

He said that about 800 participants, including policy makers, consumers, national and international partners, bankers, microfinance bank and financial institutions, Financial Intermediary Non-Government Organizations, cooperatives, small farmers groups and experts will attend the three-day summit.

Work papers on the topics, such as current status of microfinance, assessing Nepalese microfinance in the context of South Asia, use of modern technology, entrepreneurship development, innovative use of insurance, value chain, financial literacy, poverty alleviation, financial effectiveness and institutional development, will be presented in the summit.

It will have 28 various sessions to deliberate on those topics.

“The experts and stakeholders will also assess the progress made in the implementation of the commitment made at the third Microfinance Summit four years ago,” read a press statement issued by the organizers.

“Multiple stakeholders will come together in a cooperative forum to build on their strengths and similarities, thus improving the microfinance sector as a whole. The Summit will unite global experiences and Nepalese innovations in microfinance, allowing participants to learn from current successes and implement them across the country and around the world,” said Genesh Bahadur Thapa, chairman of the Centre for Microfinance (CMF).

The summit will be organised by the CMF in collaboration with the Nepal Rastra Bank and Saksham Programme.

Other organizers include Microfinance Bankers Association, Poverty Alleviation, Youth and Small Entrepreneurs Self-Employment Fund, Sana Kisan Bikas Bank, Ministry of Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation, Deprosc Nepal, Mercy Core, National Planning Commission, National Cooperative Development Board, First Microfinance Bank, Society of Economic Journalists and MIFAN.