Dhaka, Bangladesh, October 15, 2012
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is launching a training initiative for financial sector executives in Bangladesh, helping them step up support for small and medium enterprises so that they can expand operations and contribute to the country’s economic growth.
The program, developed in collaboration with the Austrian Development Bank,Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank, is training bank executives in strategy, market segmentation, product design, customer management, credit-risk management, and information-management systems. The SouthAsia Enterprise Development Facility, managed by IFC, in partnership with the UK government and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, is supporting this initiative.
Data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey shows that about 35 percent of Bangladesh’s small and medium enterprises identify access to finance as a major constraint to business. Difficulty with payment services, deposit mobilization,and investment financing are some of the impediments. IFC’s training program helps address these problems by guiding bankers on how to serve small and medium enterprises effectively.
“IFC is committed to developing the potential of small businesses in Bangladesh as they are the engine of economic growth,” said Rehan Rashid, IFC Senior Country Officer. “This program aims to work with the financial sector in Bangladesh to expand its services into new markets and reach more small entrepreneurs.”
The training was designed by IFC’s Global Small and Medium Enterprises Banking Program to help banks in middle-income and developing countries target the sector opportunity and expand this line of business. IFC has conducted similar trainings in East Asia and the Pacific, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa, where IFC has had a significant impact in bolstering small and medium enterprises.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. We help developing countries achieve sustainable growth by financing investment, mobilizing capital in international financial markets, and providing advisory services to businesses and governments. In FY12, our investments reached an all-time high of more than $20 billion, leveraging the power of the private sector to create jobs, spark innovation, and tackle the world’s most pressing development challenges. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
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