PlaNet Finance is organizing on July 9th, 2008 a Business Talk in the framework of the Asia Invest Project. Presented by Sébastien Duquet, Executive Director of PlaNet Finance, the Business Talk will see specialists exchanging views on the opportunities of microfinance investments in Asia.

While more and more private investors are getting involved in the microfinance field, investment flows in Asia remain limited compared to investments in Latin America and Eastern Europe. With the support of the European Union, the Asia Invest Project aims at matching European investors' financing capabilities with Asian Microfinance Institutions' financing needs.

This Business Talk is part of a European breakfast talk cycle that is held in Amsterdam (July 4th), Berlin (July 7th), Paris (July 9th), London (July 21st) and Luxembourg (July 25th).
This cycle is co-sponsored by ABN Amro, Pöllath + Partners, Ernst & Young, Barclays and Deloitte.

For further information, please download the document below:

Milan plays host on June 16th to the symposium "Microfinance and the Fight against Financial Exclusion in Europe" organised by PlaNet Finance. The symposium is supported by the City of Milan and the Giordano Dell'Amore Foundation in partnership with Lenovo as official partner and the support of Natixis, Capgemini, Edi and Publicis.

The objective of the symposium is to review the microfinance sector in Europe and focus on the development of microfinance in Italy and various other European countries, with accounts given by individual contributors, institutions and other organisations working within the microfinance sector.

For more information please download the programme bellow :

Under the patronage of Mrs Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet Secretary of State, responsible for ecology, in coordination with the Minister of Ecology, Development and Sustainable Planning.

The 1st exhibition of sustainable solutions to restore the environment takes place on, the 12th, 13th and 14th of June at Brongniart Palace.

Le Salon de l'Environnement et des Métiers Durables [Exhibition for the Environment and Sustainable Trades]: A unique concept with 100% carbon offset at a symbolic location in the heart of Paris. This event will feature:

- 3 DAYS OF PROFESSIONAL MEETINGS with 8 SECTORS OF ACTIVITY REPRESENTED
- 100 EXHIBITORS and MORE THAN 10 000 EXPECTED VISITORS
- STRUCTURED WORKSHOPS OF EXPERTS
- A CYCLE OF 17 CONFERENCES
- A HISTORIC VENUE
- AN EXHIBITION SUPPORTED BY NUMEROUS PARTNERS of the institutional world and media, with the participation of many key players of sustainable development in France and in Europe.

Find details regarding our partners and more information at : www.semd.fr 

For more information or to read the press release please click on the following link:

PlaNet Finance, through its representative office in India, is partnering with Nasscom's 16th "India Leadership Forum" in Mumbai, from February 13th to 15th, 2008.
This 3-day event will gather an average 500 leading individuals, organisations, and companies to analyse the main technical, financial, economic, but also cultural and political obstacles to the widespread utilisation of ICT in India in light of its ever booming population.

By organising a specific track on Microfinance & ICT during this major event, PlaNet Finance and Nasscom seek to address both the challenges of the digital divide and of microfinance for the masses, thus turning this event into one of the first meeting ground for professionals from both domains. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss, present and confront their current and future technical hardware and software solutions applicable to the microfinance sector, and to commit themselves in concrete national and/or specific partnerships.

There will be various sessions on Feb 15th, one of which is dedicated to Micro Finance, where Mr.Attali will be the key note speaker. Mr Luc-François Salvador, CEO of SOGETI Group, premium partner of PlaNet Finance and sponsor of this conference, will participate to this session.

The session proposes to build upon recent events to establish and share a plan of action on ICT & Microfinance.

In India, Microfinance already serves more than 30 million men and women living in poverty. The ICT sector is highly developed, competing with those of industrialised countries. India could be a pioneer in enhancing synergies between connectivity brought by widespread ICT and initiatives to fight poverty.

On Thursday 10th of January 2008, PlaNet Finance Sénégal in conjunction with Microsoft Unlimited Programme (UP) celebrated the launch of a new project entitled: "Information technology training for microentrepreneurs."

Since 2005, PlaNet Finance and Microsoft have combined their efforts to reduce numerical illiteracy in Senegal. The action of initiating and training in information technology has already begun to reinforce the abilities of more the 450 microentrepreneurs as well as facilitating the development of economic activity and the creation of jobs.

The project aims to promote the efficiency, innovation and diversification of microentrepreneurial business processes while creating ne business opportunities and unlocking entrepreneurial growth potential.

The project intends to satisfy five key objectives in the pursuit of its goal, these are:

The project intends to satisfy five key objectives in the pursuit of its goal, these are:

 Fostering local innovation and reducing the digital divide
 Enabling jobs and opportunities
 Empowerment of the microentrepreneur
 Sound training to MFI agents as well as microentrepreneurs
 Poverty reduction

By targeting 5 main areas (Dakar, Thiès, Mbour, Kolda, Ziguinchor) this project intends to reach 500 microentrepreneurs by the end of 2008.

To find out more about this project, please download the press release 

Luxembourg is the venue for the 2007 European Microfinance Week, which will be held between November 27 and 29. This year's event, organised by the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP), focuses on the theme of "European Responses to Global Microfinance Challenges". PlaNet Finance's President will be taking part in the opening session, and experts from PlaNet Finance will also be running two workshops. 

Since 2005, European Microfinance Week has been an opportunity for bringing together European players within the microfinance sector. Discussion-type workshops have been a means of comparing experiences, passing on knowledge of best practices and encouraging the scope for synergy between organisations. The ultimate objective is to succeed in putting together common European strategies to promote microfinance in developing countries.

At the opening session, PlaNet Finance President, Jacques Attali, will speak on the theme of "Microfinance and Globalisation". During the week, Sébastien Duquet, PlaNet Finance's Chief Executive, will lead a workshop (9.00 to 10.30 on Thursday, November 29) devoted to microinsurance, an innovative approach providing compensation to microentrepreneurs and their families in the event of death or disability. On Thursday, November 29, (11.00-12.30), Daniel Sorossal, a senior microfinance expert, and Chief Executive of PlaNet Finance Belgium, will lead another workshop devoted to post-conflict microfinance. 

To find out more, go to the e-MFP website.

PlaNet Finance's Microfinance Training Centre (CFM) is offering a training session on the topic «Implementing a Microfinance and Health program":
Thursday August 30th, 2007, at PlaNet Finance's headquarters.

The purpose of the training session is to outline:
-  The importance of non-financial services in microfinance programs
- The economic and financial challenges faced by a Microfinance Institution (MFI) in setting up a Microfinance and Health program
-  Methodologies for setting up a Microfinance and Health program

The session will be delivered in French by Sonia Stransky, Microfinance Advisor.

For further information or to apply for a session, please visit the CFM Website at www.formation-microfinance.com
Registration fees for a one-day-training session are € 30 for students, job-seekers and those on Income Support, € 100 for employees representing their organisation and other professionals, and € 150 for staff-members of banks and international organisations.

The Microinsurance Awards organized by PlaNet Finance India, with the support of ING, took place on Friday july 27th in Hyderabad, India; they reward the Microfinance Institutions (MFI) offering the most innovative microinsurance services.
More than 70 people attended the event, many of which were Microfinance Institutions and insurance companies, which all have interest in the development of microinsurance. 

21 of the 750 Microfinance Institutions attending the event were nominated in three different categories: « Spark », « Shimmer » and « Shine ».

This event confirms Planet Finance's willingness to support microinsurance initiatives by supporting MFIs and insurance companies. PlaNet Finance wishes to give 7 million people access to microinsurance within the three coming years.

For further information on the event and the nominees, please download documents here under

Supported by PlaNet Finance, the first Asian Conference on Microinsurance took place on July 25th and 26th, in Manila, Philippines. 
The event organized by Asia Insurance Review and sponsored by Sun Microsystems, aimed at making the insurance, bank and microfinance sectors aware of the profitable and efficient opportunities and challenges that microinsurance offer to fight poverty.
Still unknown among most populations, microinsurance is today one of the major tools to ensure the durability of the microfinance sector by improving risk management for the poor.
During his intervention at the conference, Sébastien Duquet, PlaNet Finance's Managing Director, confirmed the organization's interest to continue developing appropriate microinsurance program worldwide.

For further information as regards to the conference, please visit the following
website: http://www.asiainsurancereview.com/pages/conference_details.asp?id=6

What form of microfinance for
farmers in the developing world?

December 4-6, 2007
To be held at the Pierre Mendès France Conference Center
of the French Ministry of the Economy, Employment and Finance and the Ministry of the Budget, Public Finance and Civil Service
 Paris, France

How can the mechanisms of microfinance be used to improve financial services to agriculture in developing areas? Under what conditions could microfinance contribute more significantly to financing farm-related activities?

The contributions and interactions of agricultural professionals, institutional actors in microfinance, experts, decision-makers, and funding sources, from both North and South, will take place around three themes, each the subject of a plenary session:

Plenary Session 1. How can microfinance respond to the needs of farmers?
Plenary Session 2. What is the economic impact of microfinance on agricultural development?
Plenary Session 3. What public policies lead to an increasing role for microfinance in agriculture?
Six workshops will contribute to these topics by looking at a number of case studies.

The conference is organized by the Foundation for World Agriculture and Rural Life (FARM), the IGPDE (the French Economy and Finance Ministry's training institute) and the business school HEC of Paris, with the support of:

• The French Development Agency (AFD)
• The Association for rural development, water and forests (AREF)
• Crédit Agricole S.A.
• The Committee for Information, Reflection and Debate on Savings and Loan Systems (CERISE)
• PlaNet Finance

Contact :   colloque.microfinance@fondation-farm.org