THE Barbados Agency for Micro Enterprise Development Ltd. (FundAccess) will be among participants at the 7th Annual Roundtable on Microfinance in the Caribbean from May 13 to 15 at the Wyndham Nassau Resort, Nassau, Bahamas.

FundAccess provides financing, enterprise training and technical assistance for micro entrepreneurs in Barbados.

General manager Hamilton Roach who will be attending, said the discussions and presentations over the three-day period would enable the agency to obtain greater insight into developments that are impacting on microfinance institutions in the region.

It would provide a forum where potential solutions to challenges facing such institutions might be examined in detail.

The roundtable is the only annual gathering in the Caribbean that brings together practitioners, experts from international agencies, consultants, academic researchers, bankers and others interested in microfinance in the Caribbean. It is held each year in a different country in the region.

It is organised by the Caribbean Microfinance Network (CMN) with support and guidance from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF).

Members of the CMN include microfinance institutions from several countries in the Caribbean which are associated with the MIF, CDB, European Union, European Investment Bank, and others.

The roundtable presents a unique opportunity for Caribbean microfinance institutions to participate in their own development in terms of a new programme, Caribbean Capacity-Building Project for Caribbean Microfinance Institutions, developed jointly by the MIF, CDB and EU.

The project, which includes provision for disaster mitigation planning, was designed specifically for the region with a view to strengthening microfinance institutions.

Topics to be discussed include portfolio expansion, governance and internal controls, benchmarking and rating, youth and gender programmes, microfinance market segments, and opportunities for microfinance institutions to obtain funding. (PR)