Joint CEO Forum to promote South-South Cooperation among DFIS

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KUALA LUMPUR: The Association of Development Finance Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP) and the Association of African Development Finance Institutions (AADFI), will host the inaugural Joint Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The four-day Joint CEO Forum from Nov 13, 2012, will be part of an initiative to strengthen cooperation among the Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) in Africa, Asia and the Pacific.

The co-chair of the event, Datuk Wan Azhar Wan Ahmad said both the ADFIAP and AADFI had been working together in the areas of capacity-building, investment promotion and advocacy for financing sustainable development since 2010.

“It is in line with this spirit of revitalised cooperation that the two regional associations have agreed to hold a joint CEO Forum to foster closer cooperation among CEOs and senior management of DFIs on both continents,” said Wan Azhar in a statement yesterday.

“Malaysia had the privilege of hosting ADFIAP’s first observatory learning programmes in 2010 and was organised to enable the African DFIs to leverage on the successes of the Asia-Pacific DFIs,” said Wan Azhar, currently the Managing Director of Credit Guarantee Corp Malaysia Bhd (CGC).

Wan Azhar is also the Chairman of ADFIAP and the World Federation of Development Finance Institutions (WFDFIs).

The Joint CEO Forum is a culmination of the Memorandum of Cooperation signed between ADFIAP and AADFI in 2010 and aimed at strengthening the relationship between the two continental bodies in promoting sustainable development financing.

With the signing of this agreement, both associations were able to provide their members with a window of collaborative opportunities and an enlarged network for learning and experience-sharing on best practices and successes among the DFIs in these continents.

The theme of the inaugural ADFIAP-AADFI Joint CEO Forum is “Promoting South-South Cooperation Among DFIs through Value Chain Financing in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. The concepts and models of value chain finance have been globally accepted as one of the solutions to the funding challenges of the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector.

“The model has been successful in addressing the financing problems of the MSMEs in the Asia-Pacific region as it benefits both small and large operators in a value chain. As most DFIs are state-owned institutions, the developmental mandate often involves the provision of long-term financial facilities to specific sectors in the economy that the government deems vital and critical for growth as well as development of the country,” Wan Azhar said.

He said that the challenge for DFIs is to pursue their Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) development mandates by adopting new and innovative financing mechanisms as well as adhering to globally accepted standards for risk mitigation and governance.

“It is this catalytic and ‘filling in the gap’ role in development that defines a DFI,” he added.

The main event of the Joint CEO Forum is a two-day joint workshop from Nov 14.

The workshop topic is “Enhancing Exports’ Competitiveness through Promotion of Value Chain Finance.” The workshop, among others, aims to create a knowledge platform for DFIs and their stakeholders to discuss challenges faced in integrating MSMEs into the global value chain financing from the African and Asia-Pacific perspective.

To be hosted on the sidelines of this workshop are business meetings and a networking forum as well as exhibitions by DFIs and Financial Institutions of their products and services. A joint Executive Board meeting will also be held on Nov 15 at the close of the workshop to draw conclusions and the way forward from the event.

About 200 CEOs and senior management executives of DFIs, officials of supervisory authorities and government agencies, Central Banks, Ministries of Finance, commercial banks, MNCs, MSMEs and other stakeholders in Africa, Asia and the Pacific are expected to attend the forum.

The CEO Forum, which is in its ninth year, started as a collaborative effort between ADFIAP and the Association of Development Finance Institutions of Malaysia ((ADFIM) in 2004. The first three ADFIAP CEO Forums were held in Malaysia with the support of ADFIM, followed by Thailand (2007), Malaysia (2008), the Philippines (2009), Cambodia (2010) and Bhutan (2011). — Bernama