LNB and INDES celebrate Sports Month for the third consecutive year

• This will be the first international edition of the Microfinance Summit promoted by FEPCMAC in alliance with SISTEMA FEDECRÉDITO.
• There are 13 sessions focused on innovation, technologies, sustainability and investment opportunities that take place over the three-day event.

The Vice President of the Republic, Félix Ulloa, accompanied by the President and CEO of FEDECRÉDITO, Macario Armando Rosales Rosa, and the President of the Peruvian Federation of Municipal Savings and Credit Banks (FEPCMAC), Jorge Solis Espinoza, inaugurated SUMMIC El Salvador 2024, a three-day meeting that will include discussions, panels with experts, and keynote presentations focused on microfinance.

This space has been opportune to promote initiatives that boost commercial development between Peru and El Salvador, with the participation of distinguished personalities such as the Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism of Peru, Elizabeth Galdo Marín and the Ambassador of Peru in El Salvador, Jorge Rosado La Torre.

The meeting is part of an alliance that crosses borders, between the Peruvian Federation of Municipal Savings and Credit Banks (FEPCMAC), and the FEDECRÉDITO SYSTEM, being the second edition of the Microfinance Summit for Latin America and the Caribbean, by its acronym in English SUMMIC 2024, and the first to be held in El Salvador, under the motto “Reinventing Financial Inclusion in pursuit of a greater goal”with the purpose of exploring and addressing crucial challenges and being a space for dialogue and reflection on the challenges and opportunities that microfinance institutions in the region currently face.

During the three days of the congress, more than 400 financial leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean will participate and will address topics of relevance for financial inclusion in the current context, including cybersecurity, technological services, user experience, corporate governance, as well as innovation in services and customer service, among others.

“At SISTEMA FEDECRÉDITO we feel honored to be the co-organizers of such an important event that calls for addressing an essential and relevant topic for Latin America and the Caribbean, such as reinventing financial inclusion in pursuit of a greater objective, whose goal goes beyond simply providing access to financial services, as it seeks to create an inclusive and equitable environment for all, bringing together hundreds of financial leaders in the region for this purpose, where we will address topics of great interest to microfinance. There is no doubt that it will be an unprecedented event in our country of which we are proud to be a part,” said Mr. Macario Armando Rosales Rosa, President and CEO of FEDECRÉDITO.

For his part, Jorge Solis, President of FEPCMAC, commented: “SUMMIC El Salvador 2024 represents a unique opportunity to strengthen regional collaboration and jointly address current challenges by promoting the exchange of knowledge and best practices among industry leaders, thus contributing to the strengthening and adaptability of the microfinance sector.”

The microfinance sector in El Salvador

Microfinance in the region has made significant progress, but not enough to meet the challenges of financial access and poverty reduction.

MSMEs in Central America and the region continue to be considered one of the main sources of employment and income. In El Salvador, MSMEs and self-employed workers represent 85% of the population’s jobs, according to figures from the Government of El Salvador.

However, financing for this niche market only represents 13% through traditional formal means in El Salvador, including microfinance institutions, and is usually replicated throughout the region. Therefore, we still have a lot of work to do to continue contributing to the issue of banking and financial inclusion.

The pandemic has forced all sectors to reinvent themselves, which is why microfinance institutions have had to make various innovations to enhance the digitalization of the financial services they offer to their clients, thus promoting financial inclusion. According to studies carried out by Mastercard in the region, it can be seen that people have more access to savings accounts and digital payments with lower transaction costs for services and products.

In 2019, a National Council for Financial Inclusion and Education was established, and more recently, in 2021, a National Financial Inclusion Policy was officially launched. In general, the banking penetration rate for El Salvador is above 36% in 2021, a figure that reflects a growth of almost 6% compared to the last measurement in 2017. However, important challenges still persist in order to reach the base of the population pyramid, as well as Micro and Small Businesses.

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