Foreword
The Asia Resource Centre for Microfinance
The Asia Resource Centre for Microfinance (ARCM) is the latest program of the Banking with the Poor Network (BWTP), an initiative supported by the Foundation for Development Cooperation -as BWTP Secretariat- and the Japan Foundation.
The ARCM is based on dialogue and information exchange at national and regional levels in South and Southeast Asia, and aims to constitute 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.
Microfinance country profiles: Philippines
The draft microfinance country profiles present a review of the microfinance sector in the Philippines, and constitute a new contribution to the foundation of the Asia Resource Center for Microfinance, after the previously completed profiles on Nepal, Pakistan, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. This profile is based on a country study undertaken during 2006 in the Philippines by the Microfinance Council of the Philippines, under the supervision of TSPI Development Corporation.
These studies have been conducted in close collaboration with BWTP Network partners, The studies have included individual consultations with key organisations and people involved in microfinance and the organisation of a regional stakeholder workshop, held on February 6, 2006 in Manilla.
The workshop was attended by 24 people representing different organizations involved in microfinance. Representatives came from different institutions such as microfinance NGOs, the central bank, private wholesale institutions, training institutes, microfinance networks, commercial banks, and government policy-makers.
The workshop focused on the following topics:
• The need for microfinance
• Microfinance providers, funders and support organizations
• Competition and other challenges in Philippine microfinance
• Regulation and government initiatives
• Practices and innovations
• Other issues and challenges
Country profiles only constitute the foundations of a comprehensive regional information dissemination strategy undertaken by the BWTP Network. As such, the draft country profiles are based on the on going ‘interactive monitoring’ of the microfinance sector in each of the countries surveyed, and will be upgraded and improved over time through the valuable feedback and information received from practitioners in the Philippines. The ARCM aims to be an interactive, relevant and a practical tool, based on current practices in the region, for all microfinance practitioners and supporters in the region. BWTP Network secretariat, March 2006 |