3rd MABS National Roundtable Conference
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Eighty-nine rural bankers from 38 MABS participating banks (PBs) attended the 3rd MABS National Roundtable Conference held April 26 – 27 in Davao City. Representatives from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Mindanao Economic and Development Council (MEDCo), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-Philippines, the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP), the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) and Globe Telecom also attended the conference. The conference’s theme was “Managing the Growth of Microfinance (MF) Operations: New Developments and Innovations”.
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During his keynote address, BSP Deputy Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. discussed the status and future directions of the BSP’s MF initiatives. Mr. Tetangco, the incoming BSP Governor, will begin his term in July. BSP Supervision and Examination Department Director Wilfredo Domo-ong also provided an update on microfinance-related BSP circulars.
Globe X-change President Jose Roberto Mendoza gave a presentation on the platform and features of, and opportunities presented by G-Cash, Globe’s short messaging services (SMS or text messaging)-based electronic money facility. RBAP-MABS and Globe are presently piloting the RBAP Text-A-Payment, a project that allows microloan clients to repay amortizations using G-Cash. The MIX analyst Matt Graham presented on financial transparency as a tool for improving MF operations and CGAP Lead MF Specialist Brigit Helms presented the trends and innovations in savings mobilization. MABS Senior MF Specialist Arelis Gomez presented the results of the micro agri-loan product (MAP) pilot test. MAP is one of the new products being developed under the third phase of the MABS Program. Chemonics Senior MF Specialist Anita Campion also provided presentations on two topics: improving internal control and balancing market-driven products with efficiency.
The conference had three breakout sessions on the following topics: strategic directions for MF operations, managing growth, and staff management, with selected MABS PBs as presentors. During a panel discussion, participants of the study group that visited the Bank Rakyat in Indonesia shared observations and lessons learned.
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BSP Deputy Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. addresses participants of the 3rd MABS National Roundtable Conference.
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