For nearly five years, I have had the pleasure of serving as a senior consultant at the MIF. I came here after working for China’s central bank and for the Asian Development Bank in order to establish and nurture connections between my country and LAC—especially when it comes to exchanging experiences and information about microfinance and MSME development.
My colleague Tomas Miller
wrote last week about an event we co-sponsored in Beijing last month with the People’s Bank of China, focusing on financial inclusion. It was a perfect way to wrap up my time with the MIF, focusing on the MIF’s lessons learned and how they can be useful in the Chinese context. We brought with us several experts from LAC to serve as speakers and panelists, including executives from Bolivia’s BancoSol, Peru’s Financiera Confianza, Trinidad’s CariCRIS, Mexico’s Compartamos Group, Colombia’s La Fundación de la Mujer, and the Peruvian Superintendence of Banks. All were grateful to the MIF for our support over the years, and were very excited to have the opportunity to meet Chinese counterparts.
I think the most important message the LAC speakers were able to impart is that microfinance is neither charity, nor something that requires government subsidy. Their experience shows that commercialized microfinance can thrive. As Mr. Chen, Vice President of the China Orient Asset Management Corporation, said in his speech, “Chinese microfinance practitioners have come to a strategic turning point now. With what we have learned from the Latino experience, we shall start working more with small credit and diversifying the industry.” I look forward to seeing this happen over the coming years.
This event was the third conference on microfinance the MIF has helped to organize. I feel a great sense of personal and professional satisfaction from having been able to play a role in these events and will soon return to China in order to continue sharing the lessons I have learned from my new amigos. Saludos, gracias, y buena suerte!