|
The Managing
Director of Grameen Trust Professor H.I. Latifee, is among
the BusinessWeek's 50 Stars of Asia, selected for helping
transform the Asian region at a time when most of the continent
has been struggling against the economic crisis. According
to Business Week "The 50 men and women are beacons for
a better tomorrow".
 The
Business Week in its July 2, 2001 issue divided 50 Asian stars
into six categories - policy makers, managers, innovators,
financiers, entrepreneurs and opinion shapers. Professor H.I.
Latifee was selected as a Star of Asia because of his leadership
in the field of microfinance.
The Stars
of Asia were honored by Business Week in Kuala Lumpur on 27
June, 2001 at which Mr Fidel Ramos, the former President of
the Philippines, was the chief guest.
back
to Regular Features
|
|
 |
|
"Grameen
Trust, which is committed to the cause of poverty alleviation
through Grameen way of microcredit provision, has given financial
and technical support to 105 replication partner organizations
in 34 countries, including 79 organizations in 12 countries
of Asia. It has provided technical assistance to many more
partners working in different parts of the world.
With the
critical support from Grameen Trust, Grameen partners have
significantly increased their outreach on a sustainable basis.
Two of the Asian partners such as CARD in the Philippines
and NIRDHAN in Nepal have become full-fledged banks for the
poor. Many others like Pro-Mujer in Bolivia; RDI in China;
ASA, GBUP and SHARE in India; MKEJ in Indonesia; KRT-WID in
Kyrghyzstan; KGMAMF in Kosovo; AIM and YUM in Malaysia; GBRP
in Myanmar; LAPO in Nigeria; CSD in Nepal; KASHF in Pakistan;
ASHI, PD and TSPI in the Philippines; CEP Fund and TYM in
Vietnam, have made significant progress in serving the poor
with financial services and helping them to overcome poverty."
From
a statement by Professor H. I. Latifee at the Tenth Annual
Asia Leadership Forum, June 28, 2001, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
back
to Regular Features
|
|
|
|
The
GITP, the first ever IT Park in Bangladesh, will contribute
towards the rapid development of the IT sector in Bangladesh.
Located in the top 12 floors of Grameen Bank head office in
Dhaka, with120,000 sft. readily available for rent, it provides
a secure and conducive environment for IT firms. With the
latest equipment from Sun Microsystems and Cisco systems,
the GITP will provide high-speed VSAT services through a fiber
optic backbone and leased telephone lines to all its clients
from mid July 2001. Thus, IT firms can maintain secured data
centres and utilize high speed broadband services. GITP will
also provide a state of the art conference room, meeting rooms,
restaurant, a gymnasium and 24 hour auto-standby generators.
Already
GITP has housed three foreign ventures. Various foreign and
local companies are also showing their interest to acquire
office space in the GITP. Metrocomia South Asia (MSA),
a joint venture with Grameen Software Limited, Aztec and
Metrocomia Scandinavia Aps, a member of the Catenas Network
which has 39 offices in Europe, USA, Africa and Asia, was
formally launched on 23rd June 2001. MSA will provide Internet
and e-business services to its clients in Bangladesh. Global
Accestel, a joint venture amongst USA, India and Bangladesh,
is another client of GITP. Global Accestel is the first
Application Service Provider (ASP) in Bangladesh. It will
provide support services to quite a few companies both here
and abroad. Another tenant of GITP is Sakon, a global telecommunications
firm that will provide telecommunications services and support
to firms located in Dhaka.
GITP was
set up in the Grameen Bank Complex because the building was
ready and it instantaneously offered many facilities. GITP
is a joint venture amongst Grameen Fund, Grameen Kalyan, Grameen
Software Ltd., Industrial Promotional and Development Company
of Bangladesh Ltd. (IPDC) and BASIC Bank.
Visit
GITP website: www.gitpark.net
for more information.
back
to Regular Features
|
|
|
|
 President
Hugo Rafael Chavez-Friaz of Venezuela, while visiting Grameen
Bank observed that most Latin American Countries were encountering
hazards like terrorism, drug trafficking and violence due
to omnipresence of poverty. "The inappropriate growth
of capitalism in Latin America and Caribbean islands, have
created huge gap between the rich and the poor in those societies."
President Chavez also said that a new socio-economic model
of peaceful revolution is badly needed to address the burning
issues.
The Venezuelan
President met Professor Yunus and senior GB staff at Grameen
Bank headquarters. "We have strong eagerness for replication
of Grameen Bank model and we are inviting Professor Yunus
to visit Venezuela to share some of his remarkable experience
in this field", the visiting President said. He added
that Venezuela could be the launching pad for combating poverty
through micro-credit in Latin America and in particular in
the Caribbean region.
Dr. Yunus
invited the Venezuelan leader to attend the regional micro-credit
summit in Mexico, in October this year.
back
to Regular Features
|
|
|
|
Grameen
Trust and Citigroup Foundation, with the support
of Paluma Foundation, Indonesia, jointly organized
a one-day workshop for Grameen replicators in Indonesia. The
workshop was held on May 14, 2001, in Jakarta.
The purpose
was to assess the current status of microcredit for the poor
in Indonesia and familiarize participants with the experience
of Grameen replicators in Indonesia and discuss the obstacles
as well as future plans.
Thirty
five participants from Grameen replication projects in Indonesia
including MKEJ, BKCJP, Paluma Foundation, YMU, YDBP, Alisa
Khadijah, YPM, Buah Kasih and PUPUK, attended the
workshop, along with representatives from Grameen Trust, and
Citigroup Foundation.
Two papers
on Experiences in Replicating Grameen Model in Indonesia
were presented by MKEJ and BKCJP. Other participants also
shared their experience. The participants observed that Grameen
partners in Indonesia could significantly increase their outreach
provided they had access to more financial and technical support
from Grameen. They suggested that Indonesia needed special
attention because of its present financial crisis and poverty
situation.
back
to Regular Features
|
|
|
|
Grameen
Trust organized a training program on Grameen Basics, held
at the Grameen Bank premises, from May 19 to June 8, 2001.
Nine staff members from replication projects in Ecuador, India,
Philippines, Samoa and Uganda, participated in the training
program, which was jointly organized by Grameen Bank and Grameen
Trust.
The training
was designed to provide Grameen Bank replicators with in depth
knowledge of the essentials of the Grameen Bank management
and operational system at the branch level. Emphasis was placed
on financial aspects including initiation of a branch, maintenance
of credit discipline, supervision, accounting, fund management,
financial viability and expansion.
back
to Regular Features
|
|
|
|
Yayasan
Usaha Maju (YUM) is a Grameen Trust funded micro-finance
partner organization in Malaysia. Since its inception in June
1995, YUM has reached more than 10,000 families with its poverty
alleviation program. It had begun as a government agency called
Projeck Usahamaju (PU) implemented by the Rural Development
Corporation in 1988. The State Government of Sabah decided
to institutionalize PU to form YUM in 1995 because of its
excellent performance in lifting its members out of poverty.
YUM now has 23 branches, one in every district throughout
the State of Sabah.
Grameen
Trust conducted a monitoring and technical visit to the GT
funded Sipitang branch of YUM from May 1 to
May 14, 2001. The purpose was to provide technical assistance,
develop a viability plan and a training strategy for the project.
YUM has
been performing well and has started to overcome its recent
repayment problems. Its progress toward financial viability
has been slow because of large operating costs. YUM is now
considering merging nearby branches and by increasing staff
productivity to reduce operating costs.
back
to Regular Features
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
Grameen
Trust Programs for 2001
Grameen Trust
in collaboration with Grameen Bank and the Grameen network
partners will organize the following Grameen Dialogue Programs,
Special Training Programs and Workshops, for worldwide
microcredit practitioners during July, 2001 ~ December, 2002. Interested
organizations or individuals that wish to participate in one or
more of the following programs are requested to write to Grameen
Trust, Grameen Bank Bhaban, Mirpur 2, Dhaka 1216; Fax and
Telephone : 880-2-8016319; E-mail: g_trust@grameen.net
or gt_repli@grameen.com
Grameen International
Dialogue Programs
Grameen National
Dialogue Programs
Grameen
Management Training Programs
Grameen Management
Workshop
back
to Regular Features
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
