Page 5 - NIBAF-Training Matters January - March 2022

Webinar on “Value Chain Financing for Agri and SME banking” with
Secretary General APRACA and local industry specialists
cluded understanding potential cli- NIBAF also organized two webinars during the quarter. First webinar held on “Value
ents and their financing needs, Chain Financing for Agri and SME banking” was attended by more than 300 partici-
evaluation of SME customers, cash pants from financial industry. The webinar provided valuable insights on the concept,

flow analysis, key considerations in products and business models of value chain financing. The speaker further deliber-
approving SME loans/Credit Lines ated on VCF assessment, its risk profiling, leveraging technological innovation and
and provision of Non-Financial Ad- advancement to develop low risk products, significance of extending liquidity to im-
visory Services. portant value chain agents, and other factors that help financial institutions provide
loan to potential value chain borrowers with mitigated risk and better client assess-
Customized training pro- ment. Benefits of VCF in terms of mitigation of credit/ payment by shifting focus from
gram on Product Develop- bi-party (FI-SME) relationship to a tri-party (FI-anchor-SME/Agri) relationship and lev-
ment & Program-based eraging the trade and payment between larger anchor and Agri/SME supplier/distrib-
Lending utor were also discussed in detail. The speakers of the webinar were Mr. Prasun Kumar
Das – Secretary General, Asia-Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Associa-
Product development and innova- tion(APRACA), Mr. Yahya Hameed, Head-Agri Credit, Bank Alfalah and Mr. Yasir Butt,
tion are key aspects for the growth Head Product-SME, Bank of Punjab. They discussed scope of VCF sector as an inno-
and sustainability of any business, vative business avenue for serving potential clients in both Agri and SME sectors. Par-
and the banking industry is no ex- ticipants actively participated in the discussions and appreciated NIBAF for providing
ception. There is a need to enhance such a good learning opportunity.
human capacity by imparting skills
and techniques that would help the
banking business expand by at-
tracting new segments of clients in
all the sectors. Keeping in view this
need, NIBAF designed a custom-
ized training program on Product
Development & Program-based
Lending. One iteration of this pro- Webinar on “SME banking- a viable business proposition in Pakistan”
gram was conducted online, with international speakers
wherein various bank business
models were discussed along with The second webinar was conducted on SME banking specifically to explore successful
important elements of product fea- models to help establish it as a viable business proposition in Pakistan. Panel of speak-
sibility. Various case studies were ers included two renowned international experts on the subject area i.e. Mr. Klitos
shared in the program and partici- Georgiou and Mr. Kaiser Naseem, who provided global perspective and key con-
pants were also asked to develop straints to SME banking. They also deliberated on an interacted approach to SME
banking and successful business models. Mr. Klitos specifically discussed product
their own product. The training con- optimization and market strategies. Similarly, Mr. Kaiser discussed important and
tents further covered understand- emerging aspects of SME banking that included IT, MIS, delivery and channel man-
ing potential SMEs & their borrow- agement. At the end, Mr. Aamish Ahmed provided prospects of SME banking in Paki-
ing needs, program based lending stan. The participants took keen interest and asked relevant questions.
& relationship lending, processes
involved in booking SME loan, is-
sues & challenges etc.