Bringing Microfinance to China's Poorest Go back »
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Time2007-08-07 | 08:00
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Venue:Radisson Hotel Shanghai New World,
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Address:88 Nanjing Road (W)
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Fee:Members: 220 RMB |
Non Members: 440 RMB
The European Chamber in Shanghai and its CSR Working Group are delighted to welcome the Grameen Foundation s Regional Coordinator, Kate Druschel to give a presentation on microfinance in China.
Grameen Foundation supports microfinance, commonly known as banking for the poor. With tiny loans (usually less than $200), savings, other financial services and technology, the extreme poor -- mostly women -- can start or grow self-sustaining businesses that put their families on the path out of poverty.
In answer to the global poverty crisis, Grameen Foundation was founded in 1997 by a group of people inspired by the work of Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, winners of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. Grameen Foundation helps local organizations around the world by providing them with financing, technology and training. Grameen Foundation's microfinance partners reach 2.7 million families in 22 countries across Asia, Africa, the Americas and the Middle East.
Despite China’s widely publicized economic boom over the last decade, today 220 million Chinese, or 17% of the population, still live on less than $1 per day. This poverty is concentrated in rural provinces, away from the booming coastal areas such as Shanghai. The challenges confronting rural Chinese are exacerbated by geographic isolation, harsh climatic conditions, poor governance, and limited access to health and education services. GF has identified three outstanding Chinese microfinance institutions (or MFIs) that we will partner with to execute our ambitious plan to combat poverty in rural China. Our goal is to reach an additional 14,305 impoverished individuals by 2008, positively impacting more than 35,000 lives.
Join Kate Druschel, Regional Coordinator of Grameen Foundation s work in East and Southeast Asia, in a discussion about microfinance: what it is and how it works; learn how microfinance is developing in China’s poor areas; and hear about others ways the private sector has worked with Grameen Foundation to advance their mission of combining the power of microfinance, technology and innovative solutions to defeat global poverty.
For more information on Grameen Foundation, please visit www.grameenfoundation.org
Agenda
08.00 08.30 Registration
08.30 09.15 Presentation by Kate Druschel, Regional Coordinator, East and Southeast Asia, Grameen Foundation
09.10 09.30 Q&A session
Registration
To register for this event, please email this form to Ms. Mahsa Bouromand mbouromand@euccc.com.cn by Monday, August 6th, noontime. Confirmations and cancellations by phone are not accepted. Please note that cancellations should be done before August 6th, noontime.
No-shows who fail to cancel before this time will be invoiced for the event.
Registrations done after the deadline will be accepted only if space permits and are charged an additional 50 RMB walk-in fee.
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Event review
Grameen Foundation expands microfinance operations in China
Microfinance is often considered to be one of the most effective and flexible strategies in the fight against global poverty. It is sustainable and can be implemented on the massive scale necessary to respond to the urgent needs of those living on less than US$1 a day, the World’s poorest. On 7th August, 2007 the European Chamber was delighted to welcome Ms. Kate Druschel, Regional Coordinator, East and Southeast Asia with the Grameen Foundation (GF) to give a presentation on the work that the Grameen Foundation is doing in microfinance and particularly its ambitious plans to expand its operations in China.
So what is the Grameen Foundation? Inspired by the work of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, the Grameen Foundation was created in 1997 to help share the Grameen philosophy and accelerate the impact of microfinance on the world’s poorest people. The GF supports microfinance programs that enable the poor, mostly women, to lift themselves out of poverty and make better lives for their families. To do this, they partner with a worldwide network of micro-finance institutions (MFIs), providing resources and management assistance for these microfinance institutions. Microfinance generally means very small, unsecured loans which are usually under US$ 200. The clients then typically use traditional skills and entrepreneurial instincts to start, sustain or develop small self-sustaining businesses.
In China, the GFs work and indeed microfinance in general has been slow to take off due to tight government regulations and lack of a clear legal framework which has restricted where GF works and how it operates. However in 2005, the People’s Bank of China initiated a pilot program in six provinces to establish commercialized microfinance companies, laying the groundwork for a legislative base.
With more than 220 million people living on below US$ 1 a day, China is the second largest potential market for microfinance. China’s poorest people struggle to gain access not just to food, healthcare and education, but also to financial services. Microfinance is a proven success: 95%-99% of loans are repaid in full and on time. The repaid dollars are then used to provide more loans and the cycle keeps going empowering more and more people out of poverty. With the gradual opening of the Chinese market to microfinance institutions, the GF is ready to provide the assistance, resources and technology needed to increase the opportunities for the poorest of the poor.
The GFs presence in China began in 2001 with one loan to one partner and up until 2005 involved limited technical assistance and support. Since 2006, GF launched a new strategic initiative and now has three strong microfinance partners, one in Sichuan Province, one in Inner Mongolia and one in Beijing. Their strategy here is two-fold: increase the outreach of the microfinance institutions that they are currently supporting and also increase the profile of microfinance as a whole in China. Through their work in China, the GF will provide their Chinese MFI Partners with capital for on-lending, tailored packages for capacity building and technology solutions.
After the presentation, Ms. Druschel spoke about the leverage that GF has in China: with a name like Grameen Foundation and founders like Dr. Mohammed Yunus, this has increased the profile of microfinance all over the world. She also spoke about the operational issues that are faced within microfinance institutions where many face the same problems as other companies in China – namely retention of their loan officers, setting up a reliable system and ensuring good corporate governance at all times.
The European Chamber was delighted to host this event and promote the work of the Grameen Foundation in China. The Chamber fully intends to cooperate with the GFs work in China and so please don’t hesitate to contact us if you would like further information on their activities in China.
To view Ms. Kate Druschel presentation please click here