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Nov. 12, 2009 - Washington, DC - On the heels of World Food Day, QED participated in a roundtable on “Public Guarantees: Risks and Opportunities” at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) seminar on the “Financial Crisis and Agricultural and Rural Financing in Latin America” held in Santiago, Chile, from October 21-23.
QED was represented by Ana Luisa Pinto, who supports USAID’s Office of Development Credit as the Regional Portfolio Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean. Ms. Pinto monitors utilization, risk exposure, and issues related to USAID credit guarantees in the region. Through this activity, and programs such as Knowledge-Driven Microenterprise Development, QED is analyzing and addressing the impact of the crisis on entrepreneurs around the world.At the seminar, Ms. Pinto presented on USAID's work with credit guarantees, particularly as they relate to strengthening financial markets for rural development. She highlighted examples of credit guarantees that have facilitated lending to agricultural producers, rural MSMEs, and cooperatives in various value chains or in specific geographic areas.
The Seminar aimed to facilitate dialogue among policy makers, executives of development banks and microfinance institutions, think tank experts, and representatives of international agencies, on strategies and actions to confront the current crisis and ways to strengthen their contribution to the development of rural financial markets. Discussion topics included the appropriate role for government officials and policy makers in addressing the financial crisis; the effect of the crisis on agricultural lending; short term solutions vs. long term solutions; and the appropriate role for national development banks.
Ms. Pinto presented along with representatives from public guarantee institutions of Chile and Mexico, INDAP and FIRA. The FAO seminar was organized by FAO and the Institute of Peruvian Studies, with support from the Ford Foundation and the Interagency Group on Rural Development (which includes USAID, IDB, World Bank, GTZ, and other donors).
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