The Asia Resource Centre for Microfinance (ARCM) is based on dialogue and information exchange at national and regional levels in South and Southeast Asia. The ARCM constitutes a one-stop learning and information hub for Banking with the Poor Network (BWTP) members and other microfinance actors in Asia.
The ARCM promotes increased outreach and efficiency of financial services for the poor in South and Southeast Asia, services that are essential in the fight against poverty in the region, improving the lives of millions through asset building and increased income.
The ARCM has two main objectives:
First, the ARCM aims to encourage partnerships and cooperation in Asia, among microfinance providers and supporters, and between providers and financiers, in order to increase financial support for microfinance schemes and to increase peer learning.
Second, the ARCM aims to build a knowledge management platform accessible to all microfinance actors in the Asia region, in order to increase institutional capacity, to increase the dissemination of innovations, and to develop regional and sub-regional standards in microfinance.
The foundations of the ARCM were first established through two country studies, conducted in January and February 2004 in Pakistan and Nepal, which included a stakeholder workshop in each of the two countries.
In September 2004, as part of the expansion of the ARCM to South East Asia, a series of individual meetings and a workshop including key microfinance stakeholders, took place in Jakarta, Indonesia.
In November and December 2004, the ARCM regional research program expanded to three countries in the Mekong river region: Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, with the organisation of country visits and a regional microfinance workshop organised in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
In 2005 and 2006, the ARCM has expanded to include Bangladesh and the Philippines including a stake holder workshop in each of the countries.