ADFIAP, represented by its Secretary General, Octavio B. Peralta, spoke before 46 participants from government ministries, NGOs, microfinance institutions and the academe in 18 countries at a financial inclusion conference held on October 20-22, 2010 in Shanghai, PRC. The event was organized by the ADB Institute, the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) and the Asia-Pacific Finance and Development Center (AFDC) in Shanghai, PRC.

The theme of the conference, “Financial Inclusion: Trends, Challenges and Policies for Rebalancing Growth” dealt with issues on financial inclusion through microfinance and micro small and medium enterprise (MSME) support as well as surrounding aspects such as risk mitigation, information sharing and legal framework.

Mr. Peralta took the opportunity to introduce ADFIAP to the audience and highlight the Association’s environmental governance initiatives and its members’ green financing programmes.

ADBI www.adbi.org was established in 1997 to respond to two needs of ADB’s developing member-countries: (1) development management training and (2) exchange of ideas on policy issues.

ABAC www.abaconlinne.org was established by the economic leaders in November 1995 in response to a call for a private sector body that could advise the APEC leaders on matters of primary importance to business in the region.

AFDC www.afdc.org.cn is a public institution directly under the administration of the Ministry of Finance, China that aims to strengthen capacity building in the region through training workshops, forum and academic research.