DUSHANBE, November 4, 2013, Asia-Plus – The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has launched a project to increase access to finance for micro entrepreneurs.
According to press release issued by IFC, the project will help microfinance institutions (MFIs) introduce new products, strengthen their operations and promote responsible finance, to expand the economy and create jobs.
IFC, with the backing of Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), will help MFIs develop their services in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan as part of the Azerbaijan and Central Asia Micro and Responsible Finance Project. The project will also help MFIs lend responsibly through targeted assessments and, where necessary, IFC will conduct studies on market debt, based on lessons learned in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Switzerland has been actively supporting the region since many years. With the launch of the new initiative we will support the microfinance sector and promote responsible finance in Azerbaijan and Central Asia,” said Martina Locher, Program Manager of SECO. “This is of particular importance in a region where a big part of the population hardly has access to finance.”
IFC launched the first phase of its Central Asia Microfinance Transformation Support Project in 2008. Now, with funding from SECO, IFC is implementing the project’s second phase in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
“Supporting microfinance and increasing access to finance for entrepreneurs are crucial to harnessing the potential of private enterprise in Central Asia,” said Natasha Goronja, IFC Program Manager. “IFC uses developments in technology, financial products, and policy to help local financial institutions reach a greater number of people in a more cost-effective way.”
IFC previously assisted the eight largest MFIs in Central Asia on transformation strategies, facilitating more than $60 million direct foreign investments to the region. In Kyrgyzstan, Bai-Tushum and Partners became the first microfinance bank in the country, in Tajikistan IMON International and FINCA Tajikistan successfully launched and rolled out deposit operations, and Arvand significantly increased remittances. The IFC’s clients altogether helped about 6 percent of the working-age population in Tajikistan, and about 7 percent in the Kyrgyzstan to access microfinance financial services.
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. Working with private enterprises in more than 100 countries, it uses its capital, expertise, and influence to help eliminate extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity. In FY13, IFC’s investments climbed to an all-time high of nearly $25 billion, leveraging the power of the private sector to create jobs and tackle the world’s most pressing development challenges.
The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) is the Swiss competence center for all core issues relating to economic policy. SECO implements economic development cooperation with developing and transition countries with the aim to support the sustainable integration of these countries into the world economy and to promote their economy in order to help reduce poverty. SECO is part of the Swiss Federal Department for Economic Affairs.
