In line with ADFIAP’s advocacy on sustainable environmental development and as one of its major roles as a partner of the EU-funded Switch Asia project called, “SMEs for Accountability, Responsibility and Transparency Myanmar 2” (SMART Myanmar 2), ADFIAP Consulting (AC) Head Corazon D. Conde and AC Managing Principal Alberto B. Reyno, conducted a 5-day training and workshop on “Green Project Finance” for members of the Myanmar Bankers Association (MBA) in Yangon, Myanmar from June 20-24, 2015. This activity is the first of a series of capacity-building programs in 2016 that will culminate in the certification of the attendees as “Green Bankers” upon completion of the three (3) learning courses in November, 2016.
The 5-day training program upscaled the technical and financial skills of the participants in evaluating and financing green projects through experiential and interactive learning using analytical tools to identify, evaluate and mitigate risks inherent in the green credit process. Focus of this initial course offering is the green finance framework detailing the principles of the green credit cycle with emphasis on the green credit scoring system as an essential risk mitigation tool in project finance.
The training program was participated in by 39 loan officers/managers from 22 government and private banks who are envisioned to be their respective banks’ “green champions”. The same participants are encouraged to complete the three (3) training courses to qualify for certification as “Green Bankers” by ADFIAP’s Institute of Development Finance (IDF).
The second offering, the “Green Project Finance 2.0”, is tentatively scheduled on September 12-16, 2016 and will focus on the hands-on implementation of principles learned during the initial Green Project Finance training, using live cases that will be evaluated/appraised and packaged by the participants for presentation to a simulated “credit committee” that will rate them based on a pre-determined criteria to gauge the participants’ level of understanding of green project finance and ability to implement the principles in their real situation. The third offering will be held in November 2016 and will cover “Green Product Development and Marketing”. ADFIAP envisions that the end-product of these training programs to be “green champions” to lead the “green team” in each member-bank of the MBA.
This initiative is in pursuance of one of SMART Myanmar 2’s aspirations of paving the way for its target SMEs to have access to finance from banks to fund their green investments. The training intervention is aimed at building the capacities of the loan officers of banks so they can confidently lend to green projects under a risk-mitigated environment.
The SMART Myanmar 2 is a 4-year project that aims to improve production and increase consumption of sustainably produced garment from Myanmar through up-scaling and improving on best practice mechanisms developed and implemented during SMART Myanmar 1.0, including access to finance.
For more information on the SMART Myanmar 2 project, please click on this link: https://www.smartmyanmar.org/.