Microfinance bank opens doors in Champassak
Microfinance bank opens doors in Champassak
The first village in Champassak province operated under the Microfinance in Rural Areas – Access to Finance for the Poor (AFP) project officially opened in Soukhouma district's Kouttaboun village on Monday.
Bank of the Lao PDR Deputy Governor, Mr Sonexay Sithphaxay, Champassak provincial authorities and representatives from development agencies AusAID and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) attended the opening ceremony, jointly cutting a ribbon to open the new bank.
Mr Sonexay said the project had gained a significant outreach in a number of provinces already.
“I am confident that many villagers in Champassak province will benefit from better access to finance,” he said.
“This project has operated very successfully in other provinces for many years and many people have benefited from the AFP already.”
A Champassak provincial authority representative thanked Germany and Australia for their support, and said he hoped the opening ceremony would mark the start of a fruitful cooperation so many more village banks and development funds in all districts and villages of the province could profit.
The Microfinance in Rural Areas – Access to Finance for the Poor pro ject was set up in 2009 as part of the German contribution to Lao development, and now supports more than 20,000 remote rural clients through 277 village banks in Luang Namtha, Xayaboury, Attapeu and Savannakhet provinces.
MMG LXML Sepon provided funding in 2010 to support village banks and their network support organisations in Vilabouly district, Savannakhet province.
In 2013 the project received additional funding from the Australian government through AusAID's Laos-Australia Rural Livelihoods Programme.
With the official and symbolic start in Champassak this week, the operations of the AusAID-supported expansion to six districts in Champassak, Saravan and Savannakhet provinces finally got under way.
The project is implemented by GIZ in cooperation with the Bank of the Lao PDR.
Representatives from AusAID used the opportunity to draw attention to the effectiveness of partnerships between the private sector, the Lao government and development partners like Germany and Australia.
vientiane times
