Microfinance experts to lecture on best practices

MANILA, Philippines - The Center for Global Best Practices (CGBP) will hold a seminar title “Profiting Big in the Microfinance Industry” on May 28, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the InterContinental Manila Hotel, Makati City.

Main speaker is Dr. Jaime Aristotle B. Alip, a Ramon Magsaysay awardee in 2008. The country’s foremost microfinance expert, he is well-sought in his remarkable ways of turning around failing banks all throughout Southeast Asia. He is the founder of CARD, the first NGO that has transformed into a bank and has grown into a multi-institution with over a billion in assets. Merely P20, was able to expand his microfinance business to a billions of pesos-worth corporation. In a rare opportunity, he will share his secrets on how to achieve a 99.5-percent repayment rate.

The seminar will also feature Nelly Favis-Villafuerte, author of the Microfinance Handbook 2007, the most updated and comprehensive book on the subject currently available. A former undersecretary of the Department of Trade and Industry and governor of the Board of Investments, she is presently a member of the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

The 3rd lecturer is Rosario S. Bernaldo, CPA and professor at the U.P. College of Law. She is the founder and managing partner of law and accounting firms Bernaldo, Directo and Po Law Offices and R.S. Bernaldo & Associates.

Microfinance is a worldwide movement, and it continues to gain strength as more small enterprises and entrepreneurs realize the value of microfinancing as a big business opportunity. To the many cause-oriented institutions, microfinance is a tool and a weapon against poverty.

Details of this limited-seats-only event are available at CGBP’s website at www.cgbp.org. You may also call program officer Ivy Enriquez (email [email protected]) at (02) 842 7148 & 59 or (02) 556-8968. Pre-registration is required.