Amidst the serene and green setting in Nha Trang, Vietnam and a record delegate participation, ADFIAP, in cooperation with the Vietnam Development Bank (VDB), have successfully held the 38th Annual Meetings on May 13-15, 2015, with the theme “DFIs & Sustainable Infrastructure: Policy Framework, Operational Best Practice and Challenges”. Over two hundred overseas and local delegates from ADFIAP members, partner-organizations and invited guests attended the much lauded event.
The conference proper, where members and invited speakers shared their knowledge and insights on topics that revolved around the theme, covered three different sessions. Session 1: Policy framework on infrastructure development featured the experiences of Russia’s Vnesheconombank (Mr. Anatoly Ballo, Deputy Chairman), Development Bank of the Philippines (Mr. Gil A. Buenaventura, President & CEO) and Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus (Mr. Sergei Roumas, Chairman of the Management Board). The Session Chair was Dr. Sailendra Narain, Chairman, Centre for SME Growth and Development Finance. Session 2, Part 1: Financing of sustainable infrastructure, highlighted the sharing of experiences of the Land Bank of the Philippines (Mrs. Gilda A. Pico, President & CEO), Development Bank of Japan Inc., (Ms. Fumiyo Harada, General Manager, International Strategy & Coordination Department) and Development Bank of Turkey (Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kesik), Session II, Part 2: included Vietnam Development Bank (Mr. Dao Van Chien, Deputy General Manager) and IDBI Bank , India (Mr. Viney Kumar, Executive Director). Chairing this session was Mr. Isidro A. Sobrecarey, Sr. Vice President Development Bank of the Philippines. Session 3 on support systems for infrastructure development, covered the experiences of DFCC Bank, Sri Lanka (Mr. Arjun Rishya Fernando, CEO & Director), the International Financial Consulting, Ltd. (Mrs. Diana Smallridge, President) and the Green Climate Fund (Mr. Leo Hyoungkun Park, Financial Institutions Specialist). The Chairperson for this session was Mr. Deve Toganivalu, Chief Executive Officer of Fiji Development Bank.
Prior to the conference proper, special Interest presentations featured: “Promoting and Supporting MSMEs in India” (Mr. Madhav Lal, Secretary, Ministry of MSME, Government of India); “Export-Import Bank of India: Catalysing Regional Trade & Development” (Mr. Debasish Malick, Deputy Managing Director, Export-Import Bank of India); “International Investment Bank: Time-Proved Partnership” (Mr. Vladimir Liventsev, Deputy Chairman of the Board, International Investment Bank); “Mobile Money as a Leading Force for Development (Mr. Mariano Sawit, Chief of Marketing & Operations); and “Presentation by the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)” (Dr. Kshatrafati Shivaji, IAS, Chairman & Managing Director, SIDBI)
Other highlights of the event included the 21st Ordinary Meeting of the General Assembly, the 81st Board of Directors Meeting, Delegate-Meets-Delegate session, the ADFIAP Awards 2015, the Fellowship Programme, the Closing Dinner and the Drafting of the “Nha Trang Declaration” (Please see separate article)
The ADFIAP annual meetings, consisting of various events that is held in different venues in the Asia-Pacific region, serves as a platform for ADFIAP members, partner-organizations and other stakeholders to exchange views, ideas and best practices on issues affecting them as well as to network and explore cooperation opportunities. The next annual meetings 2016 will be held in Apia, Samoa to be hosted by ADFIAP members there, namely, the Development Bank of Samoa, National Bank of Samoa, Samoa Housing Corporation and Samoa National Provident Fund.