Amret Gets $245,000 Grant From UNCDF

KHMER TIMES
SUM MANET



The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) provided Amret Microfinance Cambodia with a grant of $245,000 to help more women in the Kingdom access financial services and eventually contribute to local community development.

The grant agreement was publicly signed last Thursday in the presence of a representative from the UN, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Amret management staff, said a UNCDF statement yesterday.

Amret is the winner of UNCDF’s Shaping Inclusive Finance Transformations Challenge Fund that invites financial institutions, non-bank financial institutions and businesses to submit project proposals to advance the economic empowerment and market participation for low-income consumers, microenterprises and small and medium enterprises, with a specific focus on women.

“There are around 650,000 garment factory workers, mostly migrants who earn an average of $191 per month and remit money home to their rural family members. Most of these workers and their family members are still excluded from formal financial services,” said the UNCDF statement.

Feisal Hussain, UNCDF Asian regional coordinator, said it is vital to empower women to access to financial service in order to boost their economic development.

“It is just really important in this country when we know 11 percent of women having savings accounts,” Mr. Hussain said. “We are really focused on how private sector can bring commercial and social solutions to development problems.”

The total estimated project cost of Amret’s winning “Family Plus” proposal is $539,000 of which UNCDF will support $245,000 as grant and the rest will be met by Amret.

“The ‘Family Plus’ project aims to benefit over 30,000 individuals by 2018 of which 20,000 are women,” said Chea Phalarin, CEO of Amret.

“Amret’s initiative, with support from UNCDF, means that many more female micro-entrepreneurs, employees and migrant segment, will be able to access financial services and eventually contribute to local community development,” he said.

Mr. Phalarin said “Family Plus” is a type of mobile bank “that can serve our people, especially female garment workers who work far from home.”

“We created an account for them that allows their family members to save money in the account altogether. They can also withdraw money without paying any fees.”

Amret is Cambodia’s leading microfinance institution that provides financial services to micro, small and medium enterprises, and low-to-middle income communities in rural areas. It has 142 branches across all 25 provinces of Cambodia, with $268 million in deposits, a $506 million loan portfolio and total assets of $617 million.