Country
Bhutan, Laos, Vietnam
Local Project Partners
MFIs, Community Based Financial Organisations (CFO), Associations (e.g. (i.e. LASCU and NEFSCUN), central banks, universities, fintechs
German Project Partners
Sparkasse Essen
Sparkasse Lörrach-Rheinfelden
Donor
Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ)
Duration
01.11.2022 - 30.04.2024
Access to financial services in Bhutan, Laos and Vietnam (especially in rural regions) is one of the greatest challenges in overcoming poverty, unequal living conditions and the ecological transformation of national economies. Agriculture plays an important role in all project countries - it employs the majority of the population and women in particular. At the same time, agriculture contributes too little to food security and is threatened by climate change. Locally active financial institutions need the necessary institutional and personnel capacities to be able to provide a comprehensive range of basic financial services in rural regions on a cost-covering basis.
The overall objective of the project is balanced ecological rural development in the project countries and sustainable economic development by strengthening the financial capabilities of the population. This contributes to the promotion of (women-led) small businesses, agricultural enterprises and young people. The project objective is to strengthen the institutional capacity of formal and informal financial organisations in rural areas. The strengthening is carried out with regard to the creation of ecological, sustainable business models, market-driven product offerings for micro-entrepreneurs and women farmers, geographical reach, process efficiency (digitalisation), management capacity, risk management and compliance. Associations or other institutions should also be enabled to effectively monitor financial organisations and provide support for individual institutions (improving the legal and organisational framework for microfinance activities in rural areas and strengthening their supervision).
Support for the Bhutanese project partner ended in April 2024.
