On invitation of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), ADFIAP represented by its Secretary General, Mr. Octavio B. Peralta and the ADFIAP Consulting (AC) team, participated in a two-day workshop on “Enhancing Financial Accessibility for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs): Lessons from Asian and OECD Areas’ Crises” held at the ADB Manila Headquarters on March 6-7, 2013. Mr. Peralta shared the experience of ADFIAP members in different countries in assisting SMEs through different financing mechanisms from working capital, asset acquisition to export finance as well as non-finance support programs to the sector such as capacity-building, technical advice and infrastructure provision. About 60 participants from Asia and OECD economies attended the event.
The workshop, a first joint undertaking for ADB and OECD on the subject, is a part of both institutions’ collaborative study on SME finance that focuses on innovative SME financing modality amid an era of global financial uncertainty. The program agenda covered two pillars, each with six key sessions: (a) bank lending efficiency with discussions on policy responses to SME finance in pre- and post- crises, financial infrastructure needed to expand SMEs’ access to finance, and sustainable credit guarantee business for SMEs and (b) diversified financing modality with discussions on financing instruments needed for internationalization of SMEs, roles of public financial institutions, and capital market financing for SMEs.
A report of the workshop and the publication on an ADB-OECD joint study on SMEs will be made available to members in due time.