Financial inclusion summit set next week

Around 500 representatives from government agencies, financial services firms, microfinance institutions, non-profit organizations, technology providers and other key stakeholders will gather at the Makati Shangri-La in Manila from Oct. 27 to 29 for the launch of a major new platform designed to accelerate financial inclusion in the Asia-Pacific region.

The inaugural Asia-Pacific Financial Inclusion Summit is organized by the Citi Foundation, The Foundation for Development Cooperation (FDC) and the Financial Times, in partnership with the Banking With The Poor Network. It is supported by host partner Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

The summit is a consolidation of two leading forums in the Asia Pacific region - the Citi-FT Financial Education Summit and the Asia Microfinance Forum. The new platform will serve as a catalyst for debate, knowledge and best practices sharing, and the formation of partnerships among practitioners, policy-makers and stakeholders to deliver impact and achieve scale in financial inclusion and drive economic progress in the region.

Over 75 thought leaders and industry experts will tackle challenges and opportunities in the area of inclusive finance, including how the private sector can play an increasingly important role in delivering financial inclusion goals and boosting sustainable development, innovative use of digital technology to reach the unbanked, the enabling regulatory environment and national financial inclusion strategies, scaling of microfinance institutions for greater impact, and new delivery models of financial education.

They include speakers from the Asian Development Bank, United Nations Capital Development Fund, Better than Cash Alliance, ACCION, CGAP, Women’s World Banking, BRAC, Grameen Capital India, and MicroSave, as well as regulators from Indonesia, India and the Philippines.

“By combining the region’s leading financial education and microfinance forums, we are bringing various stakeholders from the inclusive finance ecosystem together on a common platform to drive interactive discussion and promote synergy of initiatives. We are confident that this integration and exchange of views, knowledge, and best practices will contribute to progressing the financial inclusion agenda in the region, “said Regina Seow, Asia Pacific Head of Corporate Citizenship, Citi.

“The summit is an ideal opportunity for business, government and community stakeholders from across Asia to share and examine new business models, technology solutions and delivery channels aimed at reducing poverty and hastening inclusive finance and economic growth,” said Stephen Taylor, Executive Governor, FDC .

“After co-organizing the Citi-FT Financial Education Summit for more than a decade, we are excited about this new initiative and the potential it has to generate debate about the challenges and opportunities for advances in financial inclusion in the Asia Pacific,” said Victor Mallet, South Asia Bureau Chief of the Financial Times.

For more information, visit the Asia-Pacific Financial Inclusion Summit website at fininclusionsummit.org.