ISLAMABAD: Karandaaz has joined the SME Finance Forum as the newest member of the global membership network here on Tuesday. The announcement made by the company here on Tuesday revealed that the members are SME financing experts from 80 plus countries who share the common goal of expanding access to finance to small businesses worldwide through knowledge exchange and innovation.
Karandaaz is a not-for-profit company that was established under the UK Government’s Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) funded project. “When we started in 2012, we were in an exploratory phase for the first few years.
Since 2016, we have been implementing our mission to build a global membership to support better SME financing, and since then, we have established a network with over 230 active member institutions, which operate in over 190 countries sharing the common purpose of helping under-served enterprises. We are delighted to welcome Karandaaz to further grow our mission.” said Matthew Gamser, CEO of the SME Finance Forum.
Karandaaz Pakistan is the implementation partner of the Enterprise and Asset Growth Programme (EAGR) of UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). Karandaaz promotes access to finance for micro, small and medium-sized businesses through a double bottom line investment platform and financial inclusion for individuals by employing technology enabled solutions.
“Since its inception Karandaaz has been working on several initiatives to facilitate access to finance for Pakistan’s MSMEs and we hope that through this membership, we can learn about the latest initiatives and tools helping to improve access to finance for SMEs.
This will further augment our multifaceted interventions aimed at easing financial intermediation in the country by bridging gaps in financial sector architecture and product offerings and assisting with and advocating for regulatory enhancements; ultimately enabling greater access to finance for individuals, and MSMEs.
In its most recent interventions Karandaaz is promoting financing for sustainable and climate-friendly projects including, but not limited to, renewable energy, energy efficiency, green buildings, clean transportation, and waste management”, said Dr Shamshad Akhtar, Chairperson of Karandaaz.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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