April 26, 2006	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 27, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, April 25: The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) will provide Rs40 million to 11 microfinance partner organisations in Pakistan under its Financial Sector Strengthening Programme (FSSP).

An agreement in this regard was signed here on Tuesday.

The partner organisations operating in urban, peri-urban and rural areas include Sawabi Women Welfare Society, Organisation for Participatory Development, Sarhad Rural Support Programme; Asasah in Punjab, Sindh Agricultural and Forestry Workers Cooperation, First Microfinance Bank, Thardeep Rural Development Programme, Pakistan Microfinance Network, Sindh Microfinance Network, Sarhad Microfinance Network and Centre for Excellence in Microfinance, Peshawar.

Speaking at a press conference, Richard Kohli, the deputy country director SDC, said the Swiss agency would be celebrating its 40 years of working in Pakistan this year.

The agency, he added, assisted the State Bank of Pakistan in building the capacity of its staff in microfinance and provided technical assistance for setting up of on-site examinations and off-sites surveillance system for microfinance banks.

He said SDC was also partnering with the Leasing Association of Pakistan and four private leasing companies to facilitate their down-scaling from big-ticket leasing to micro leasing.

“SDC considers microfinance as a powerful tool for poverty alleviation provided that financial services for the poor are integrated in financially self-sufficient and socially-sensitive financial systems,” Mr Kohli observed.

Director of FSSP Khalid Nawaz said in its first three-year phase (2002-05), FSSP had supported a wide range of microfinance institutions and established the Sindh Microfinance Network, Sarhad Microfinance Network and the Centre of Excellence in Microfinance at the Peshawar-based Institute of Management Sciences.