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ONE of
the largest banks in
Germany,
Bank IM Bistum, based in Essen will set up a
microfinance system in the
Philippines
to provide fund assistance to small farmers and rural
communities, identified as the most vulnerable sectors
in the food crisis in the country.
Heinz-Peter Heidrich, managing director of the bank,
noted that problems of skyrocketing food prices affect
the most vulnerable sectors like the poor families in
rural areas and small farmers, especially in
poverty-stricken provinces of Mindanao.
Heidrich,
who also serves as the Philippine honorary consul for
North Rhine-Westphalia in
Germany, is a member of the 16-man delegation of Philippine
honorary consuls in
Germany
visiting the Philippines from April 13 to 21 to explore
business opportunities for German private investors.
He said
Bank IM Bistum is one of the largest cooperative banks
in Germany owned by a religious group. Of its total
$5-billion assets, the bank allocates $250 million for
microfinance projects in many countries, including
vulnerable communities in Latin-American countries.
The bank
is now providing microfinance services to countries like
Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico, Guatemala and
Argentina.
“We
would like to focus on providing microfinance services
to rural areas, especially those involved in the
agriculture sector like small farmers in Mindanao
provinces,” said Heidrich in an interview at the Asian
Institute of Management, where the group held a meeting
Monday with key government leaders.
Heidrich
said he would return to the Philippines in August this
year to meet with some credit organizations and people’s
banks that provide microfinance services.
He said
the Philippines is rich in agriculture resources, but
has been gravely hit by problems of drastic increases in
food prices because most of the vulnerable sectors like
small farmers do not have access to microfinance
services.
Edsel
Custudio, foreign undersecretary for international
economic affairs, said microfinance services is very
applicable to the Philippines with more than 90-percent
small-and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs).
“SMEs
play a significant role in the economic development of
the Philippines, but the [commercial]banking system is
so strong on collateralization that many of these [SMEs]
could not afford to avail,” said Custodio during a press
briefing late Monday at AIM.
He said
the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is now focusing on
microfinance services for SMEs in the country by
conducting trainings for cooperatives and thrift banks.
Also
included in the delegation are Dr. Gerhard Zeidler,
Philipine consul general of Baden-Württemberg/Hesse;
Eckbert von Bohlen und Halbach, consul of Bavaria;
Priscilla Zanoria, consul of Iceland; Jutta Hippelein,
vice consul of Bavaria; and Loredanna Hess, vice consul
of Hesse. |
