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APEC seeks ways of promoting small- and medium-sized enterprises
Delegates from the Asia-Pacific region are attending the 13th APEC SME Ministerial Meeting and related ones in Hanoi on Sept. 25-29 to facilitate development of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The ministerial meeting, slated for Sept. 28-29, with the theme Strengthening SME Competitiveness for Trade and Investment, will center on business enabling environment for SME, SME capacity building for trade and investment and facilitating linkages for SME. A seri...
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India’s BIG microfinance revolution
ICICI Bank is a big money-center lender that deals with sizable companies in Bombay, Bangalore, and New Delhi. It is also one of India’s biggest consumer lenders. So why does Nachiket Mor spend a lot of time in India’s economically depressed rural hinterland looking for prospective borrowers? He recently visited a family of five living in a soot-covered hut, getting by at barely subsistence levels in the North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Mor signed off on a one-y...
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Lay emphasis on integration of rural India: PM
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said the state governments should lay more emphasis on integration of rural India with economic development of the country by focusing on agriculture, drinking water and electrification of villages. Expressing concern over current growth rate of agriculture at the inaugural session of a two-day conclave of Chief Ministers of 14 Congress-ruled states, he asked the states to make special efforts to ensure that schemes chalked out under Bharat Ni...
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Citigroup in microfinance programme
Citigroup, the US bank, will on Friday announce plans to lend an initial $100m to microfinance institutions in the developing world, underlining the increasing interest in microfinance by mainstream business. ...
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Aid: Can It Work?
The conundrum facing the rich countries is that everywhere in the developing world, and particularly in Africa, you see children dying for want of pennies, while it’s equally obvious that aid often doesn’t work very well. Travel through the third world, and you may see clinics with signs proudly proclaiming that they were built by such-and-such an agency?but no other sign of life. It’s easy to build a clinic, but harder to ensure that doctors and nurses actually report for...
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D.I.Y. Venture Capitalists
Try connecting two people from opposite sides of the planet-one hoping for a small cash infusion, and one looking to do something productive with their disposable income. Chances are, good things will happen. At least that’s the premise of Kiva - a pioneer microfinance website that Matt and Jessica Flannery launched in 2005 - and so far it’s working. The first website to link average income lenders to specific business people in developing countries, Kiva makes it possible for...
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Uganda to Cap Interest Rates Charged By Microfinance Institutions
The Ugandan government capped the interest rate that microfinance institutions may charge. ? According to New Vision Kampala, the new rule sets rates at or below inflation , which sto...
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Bill to regulate microfinance sector on cards
International venture funds foraying into microfinance will not have to grapple with conflicting rules of operation. The government is preparing a bill to regulate the sector, which is expected to grow to Rs 35,000 crore, by ?10. The big funds planning to make a foray into the sector include, the Maharashtra government promoted VC Fund -Urjankur, UK-based CDC, Unitus P...