On invitation of the Office of Regional Economic Integration (OREI) of the Asian Development Bank, ADFIAP, represented by its Secretary General, Mr. Octavio B. Peralta and ADFIAP Consulting Group Head, Ms. Cora D. Conde, presented the ADFIAP-International Trade Centre/UNCTAD/WTO (ITC) project on the “Asia-Pacific SME Knowledge and Finance Regional Centre” to a group of 21 ADB officers during its second SME Finance Interest Group/Financial Sector CoP meeting on “Cross-Border SME Informatization in the Asia-Pacific Region: Prospects and Challenges” held on March 23, 2012 at the ADB headquarters in Manila.

Mr. Peralta and Ms. Conde shared their session in informing the Participants of the ADFIAP-ITC project that aims to consolidate in one platform all stakeholders involved in national SME development efforts and create a “national hub” to make this happen.

These national centers are to be supplemented with a web-based regional portal that serves as a repository of all knowledge and information on SMEs from the national focal points. Aside from data knowledge-sharing, the project will also provide capacity-building, training and coaching programs as well as financing opportunities for SMEs.