Meeting Small Firms' Trade Finance Needs: Lending Institutions in Asia and the Pacific Are Exploring How to Meet Small Exporters' Financing Needs in a New Initiative Spanning 27 Countries

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Small businesses are the backbone for sustainable growth and jobs in developing countries. Access to credit for business start-up and development, however, remains difficult for most. Banks and other financial service providers, used to dealing with larger firms, rarely have the knowledge to assess the potential and evaluate risk areas of small companies.

ITC, together with the Association of Development Finance Institutions of Malaysia (ADFIM) and the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP), which represent 56 organizations from 27 countries, launched an Asia-Pacific Small and Medium Enterprises Finance Initiative to improve small …