TOPICS

• Investing in micro-finance: investment universe, current investments and investors, risks and yield, investment vehicles.
• Developing infrastructures and services for the micro-finance industry: rating programmes, credit cards, information and information technology.

• Interest rate regulation: should interest rates be subsidized? Should there be ceilings on interest rates charged for credit to the poorest?
• Regulation and supervision of micro-finance institutions: Should the formalization of micro-finance institutions be encouraged? How? What kind of supervision should be exerted? Do rules applying to the traditional banking sector also apply to micro-finance institutions?

• Is micro-finance a possible response to the poverty and unemployment problems in developed economies?
• Results of current experiments
• Similarities to and differences from programmes applied in developing countries
• Obstacles to micro-finance in developed economies

• Practical knowledge and understanding among public and private sectors decision makers of the strategic importance and economic and social prospects of micro-finance.
• Possibility of participating in partnerships for development, i.e., business ventures with a positive development impact.

• Governments: Heads of Government and financial authorities (ministries of Finance, banking supervisory authorities)
• Public investors (international organizations, development banks, cooperation agencies)
• Private investors (institutional and private investors, financial consultants).
• Banks, asset management companies, rating agencies, auditing and consulting firms.
• Directors of the major micro-finance institutions.

• Press conferences to announce new partnerships (TV coverage)
• Private meetings will be organized for the participants in on-going or potential partnerships.

SAMPLE LIST of SPEAKERS and PANELISTS

(* = to be confirmed)

Public Sector

H.E. Mr. Y. Museveni, President, Uganda

H.E. Mr. M.A. Rodriguez, President of Costa Rica

H.E. Mrs. G. Macapaga, Vice-President, Philippines

H.E. Mr. R. Márquez, Vice-President, Peru

H.E. Mr. J. Quiroga, Vice-President, Bolivia

H.E. Mr. L. Jospin, Prime Minister, France

H.E. Mr. Raymond Barre, Mayor of Lyon, France

H.E. Mr. D. Strauss Kahn, Minister of Finance, France*

Mr. G. Taplin, International Monetary Fund

Mr. C. Freeland, Basel Committee on Bank Supervision

Mgr. Martin, Representative of the Holy See*

Mr. E. Iglesias, President, Interam. Dev. Bank (IDB)

Business Sector

Mr. J. Attali, Founder PlanetBank and Former President, EBRD

Mr. D. Btesh, CEO, Multicredit Bank, Panama

Mr. B. Costa de Queiros, CEO, Banco do Nordeste, Brazil*

Mr. K. Dolan, CEO, Axa Investment Managers*

Mr. E. Garcia, President, Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF)

Mr. Gary Hattam, Director, Community Development, Bankers Trust

Mr. A. Roelants, CEO, Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (BIL)*

Mr. J. Taysom, Director of New Business Dev., Reuters

Civil Society

Mr. Benjamin Barber, Prof. of Political Science, Author of "Djihad vs. MacWorld"

Mrs. Nancy Barry, President, Women’s World Banking (USA)

Mr. John Bryant, Chairman, Operation Hope Inc.

Mrs. R. Capisarow, Director, Fundusz Micro, Poland

Mr. Michael Chu, President, Accion International

Mr. Andrew Hilton, Director, Center for Study of Financial Innovation, UK

Mr. Kimanthi Mutua, Managing Director, K-REP, Kenya

Mrs. Maria Nowak, President, ADIE, France

Mr. Pancho Otero, Founder of Bancosol, Bolivia