Conference Proceedings

Keynote

Speaker:

Juan Verde, Policy Expert, Corporate Strategist and Advocate for the Green Economy

• Climate change is the greatest threat to the global economy but also a great opportunity. SMEs are an integral part of that challenge
   
• ...

What we heard on September 20th….

Opening remarks were given by H.E. Chea Chanto – Governor, National Bank of Cambodia and Tomasz Telma – Director, Financial Institutions Group, IFC

Chea Chanto laid out examples of how Cambodia is increasingly...

What we heard on September 21st….

We kicked off the second day of the Global SME Finance Forum 2022 with Ruth Horowitz - Regional Vice President for Asia and the Pacific, IFC and his Excellency Phan Phalla - Secretary of State for the Ministry of...

• We need contribution from SMEs to help us reach our sustainability goals. 
• Individually not a major source of greenhouse gases but...

Speakers

Clare Shine, Director and CEO, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) 

Background

The implication of global sustainability plays a vital role within the global financial system. Financial institutions are considering a more...

The media presence during the Global SME Finance Forum 2023 was notably substantial, with a total of 61 media representatives in attendance, spanning various media outlets such as print, television and online.

The pre-event press release, "SME...

The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown the world into uncertainty and the outsized nature of the impact on governments, businesses and citizens is causing upheavals in the way we live and work, resulting in massive social and economic changes. While there are many disruptions and negative outcomes such as the unfortunate loss of life and reversals in poverty reduction, there is also the possibility for positive outcomes, as we take a hard look at ways of living and doing business that can and should evolve.

Female Focused Financing - A Recap of Flagship Global SME Finance Forum Fireside Chat

Female-headed SMEs struggle to achieve their growth goals in a way that male-headed SMEs do not. Within the broadly defined SME financing gap, there exists another...

A recap from the Global SME Finance Forum 2020 - Virtual Edition. The landscape of the global financial services industry has seen considerable changes over the past few years. The entrance of non-traditional financial institutions particularly Fintech and Big Tech has indisputably accelerated innovation in the financial sector and improved service offerings for consumers and SMEs. At the same time, they also make the industry ever more competitive, creating pressure and uncertainties for incumbents. What does this evolving landscape mean for SME finance?

A recap from the Global SME Finance Forum 2020 - Virtual Edition. The pandemic has changed the way we view business operations, more rapidly than ever before. Organizations across the globe, have had to reprioritize their processes and actively facilitate customer engagement, employee satisfaction, gender equality, and SME sustainability in these challenging circumstances. n this panel, our speakers address how their organizations have navigated and strived during this global crisis.

Closing the SME finance gap requires innovation, collaboration, and, increasingly, digitization. Executives from some of the most well-recognized firms in SME financing – Accion, Mastercard, Ant Financial and Unilever – shared stories of the strides...

Investment Strategies Evolve as Technology Takes Over - A Review of Flagship Global SME Finance Forum Panel 
 

The SME financing industry is undergoing a period of rapid change and disruption of the status quo. The introduction of fintechs...

Banks & Fintechs Adapting to an Ever-Evolving SME Finance Ecosystem - A Review of Flagship Global SME Finance Forum Panel

The business of financing SMEs is evolving at such a rapid rate that the future of the industry is becoming increasingly...

Plenary

The cost of data security, data governance and data protection is high. So, what does it mean to achieve the full potential of data as a new "oil"? 

A lively conversation during the 2019 Global SME Finance Forum in Amsterdam, between a...

Rajeev Chalisgaonkar from Standard Chartered will share lessons learned and insights gleaned from the community of practice as well as experiences gathered while digitizing small business lending.

A recap from the Global SME Finance Forum 2020 - Virtual Edition. Both financial institutions and customers have had to quickly navigate how they can and want to interact as a result of the pandemic. So, what have financial institutions done to respond to the impact of the crisis while progressing their digital transformation at the same time?