As one of the Association of Development Financing Institutions (ADFIAP) major tasks as a partner of the EU grant-funded SMART Myanmar Project, ADFIAP Consulting (AC) conducted a seminar-workshop on “Green Financing for Banks” for the members of the Myanmar Bankers Association (MBA) on February 17-19, 2014 at the MBA Building in Yangon, Myanmar.
The training course introduced the concept of sustainable consumption and production (SCP) and its relevance to banks in promoting investments in environmentally-friendly processes and systems such as cleaner production, waste minimization, resource conservation, energy efficiency, pollution prevention and control, among others, with the aim of enabling businesses to reduce their environmental footprints, and in the process, comply with national and international environmental laws. The program also served as a platform for sharing experiences and best practices on green financing initiatives undertaken by ADFIAP-member banks for possible replication. In addition, the seminar included a workshop that enabled the participants to do a hands-on evaluation of green projects under a risk-mitigated environment and design demand-driven lending programs that will spur the birth of new green financing schemes to support the SCP activities of businesses, including the garment industry which is the initial focus of the intervention of the SMART Myanmar Project.
A total of 33 participants representing 19 Myanmar financial institutions attended the seminar workshop. Dr. Sein Maung and the other MBA officials were present during the opening session. Dr. Hla Nyunt, Senior General Manager of Global Treasure Bank, was present during the 3-day workshop and assisted in the translation of the lecture into Burmese for the participants. Other high-ranking bank officials, namely, Mr. U Khin Maung Yi, the Chief Executive Officer of MBA, U Nay Tun Kyaw, Deputy General Manager of Asia Green Bank Development and U Myo Aye, Advisor of Innwa Bank Ltd. were also present as observers of the seminar/workshop.
The SMART Myanmar http://www.smartmyanmar.org/ is a 3-year project that aims to prepare Myanmar SMEs in the garment sector to produce sustainable products that meet the European environmental standards thereby making the SMEs more competitive particularly in the European and Asian markets.
