Islamabad, 21st November 2009: The 3rd International Microfinance Conference was inaugurated by the Honorable Governor of State Bank of Pakistan Syed Salim Raza in Islamabad on Saturday, November 21, 2009. Khushhali Bank Limited (KBL) was one of the main sponsors of the conference which has been organized by Shamrock Communications for the third consecutive year. The forum witnessed huge attendance by prominent delegates from both the public & private sector with participation from KBL and other prestigious Pakistani & Foreign organizations. The conference addressed many topics related to microfinance with special emphasis on “Mass Accessibility and User-friendly Resources” in Pakistan.

The 3rd International Micro-finance Conference 2009 is Pakistan’s biggest assembly of Micro Finance practitioners, regulatory & facilitating bodies, key stakeholders and the national media. The day-long conference included three interactive sessions chaired by distinguished personalities, where eminent speakers and practitioners from government, NGOs, trade and international bodies presented their papers to provide insight and suggest recommendations.

Ghalib Nishtar, President Khushhali Bank, acknowledging the growing scope of microfinance and its increasing importance said “Microfinance institutions irrefutably have the ability to improve livelihoods and spur economic activity whilst driving the entrepreneurial spirit of the masses by making financial resources available to them. Pakistan is a progressive country and over the years the microfinance sector’s role in poverty alleviation, employment generation and the country’s economic revival has increased manifold. Microfinance institutions have a huge responsibility towards the lower stratum of society and need to undertake the herculean task of bridging the financial divide in terms of mass financial accessibility.”

Ghalib Nishtar also pointed out that microfinance needs to be regulated as doing so will potentially provides access to affordable financial services such as loans, savings, leasing, insurance, payments and transfers etc across all segments of the population. A strong resolve towards good governance, high performance measures, capacity building and institutional sustainability are all pre-requisites for prudential microfinance regulations. This in turn will lead to the expansion of microfinance with a view to reduce financial exclusion and have a significant impact on poverty reduction whilst also reaching operational efficiency and greater outreach.”

He concluded by saying that microfinance institutions have greater opportunity to full fill their social objectives of expanding the poor’s access to an array of demand-driven products and services by adoption of a path towards commercialization. This can only be accomplished if we are constantly on our toes and relentlessly strive towards achieving our maximum potential. Such dynamic forums are truly crucial to the collective progress of the Microfinance sector and are the need of the hour.