Microfinance India Summit 2008

Microfinance India Summit- 2008, is the fifth in a series of annual summits organised by ACCESS Development Services as a part of its microfinance India initiatives.

Over the years, the microfinance India Summit has become established as the most credible event in the region, attracting policy makers, practitioners, promoters, donors, researchers from across the world to discuss and debate on key issues and challenges faced by the sector.

This international summit on Indian microfinance both traces the progress of the sector in India and informs participants on international best practices that could be applied to the local context by the community of practitioners.

The theme for the microfinance India Summit 2008 microfinance India Summit 2008 is "The Poor First".

In the past few years, there has been undue focus on institutions, their upscaling and sustainability challenges, sometimes at the expense of the client these institutions espouse to serve.

Are the poor getting enough; and when they need it?
How diverse are the products and services? Are these services helping the poor acquire new assets; upscale their livelihoods, reduce their vulnerability and help them emerge out of their current state of affairs. How protected are the clients from malpractices? How strong is the social resolve of the practitioners? What is the policy environment in which the sector operates?

These are some of the dimensions that the microfinance India Summit will delve into across the two days of
insightful discussions and debates and sharing of experiences.

The 2008 microfinance India Summit will also have a day three viz. November 13, 2008, which will focus on the broader issue of sustainable livelihoods. It will highlight the composite nature of services that the poor need to upscale their livelihoods. This year's theme for the day three conference is "Inclusive Value Chains".

The Conference will generate debate on topical themes like fair trade and its limitations, organised retail and the pportunities it has for the poor; it will allow the sharing of scaled up and successful experiences and help to understand the universe in which the poor practice their subsistence livelihoods.

During the microfinance India Summit, the State of the Sector report will be released, besides the State of Livelihoods- The 4 P Report, brought out by ACCESS and the Livelihoods School which will be released on Day Three.
Professor Malcolm Harper's Book on "Inclusive
Value Chains" will also be released during the Summit.

Another first time initiative, Ode to Earth, will be a market event that seeks to support small producer groups link up with mainstream markets.

The event, organised in association with AIACA and Women on Wings will help
market products of the poor, counsel them in marketing and communication and orient them with marketplace dynamics.

Besides, several other parallel events will be organized at the time of the Summit, in partnership with Intellecap, ACCESS will host the first ever Invest Asia Fair which will bring global investors and South Asia investees together to assess investment potential for emerging MFIs.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group in partnership with Planet Finance will host the Microfinance Process Excellence Awards for efficient MFIs from India. A Knowledge Fair will be set up for industry stakeholders to share their plans and programmes, disseminate their work, demonstrate
technology solutions and display their products and services.

A special session will be organised in collaboration with CARE to sensitize African delegates on the diversity of Indian Microfinance; and a similar special session will be organized in association with ACTED for South Asia MFIs being supported by ACTED under an European Union supported Project.