Prefaces

H.E. Ameena El-Guindi, Minister Insurance and Social Affairs
H.E. Antonio Badini, the Ambassador of Italy to Egypt
Mr Antonio Loche, Italian Committee for 2005 International Year of Microcredit
Plen. Min. Giuseppe Deodato, Director General of Italian Development Cooperatiion

H.E. Ameena El-Guindi, the Minister of Insurance and Social Affairs

Poverty alleviation was the top issue in the document approved by the UN Copenhagen Conference in 1995. With the 2000 New York Summit the objectives for the next millennium were issued and among them poverty alleviation was set up as a priority area of concern, significant for all societies, especially in relations with equal opportunity achievements, with promoting relative justice and the so-called Human Development as a whole.

According to this strategy, different Ministries in Egypt have set up many programs to support poor people , for example, in aiding poor households, for example, with the program launched by the Nasser Social Bank, which particularly aims at supporting the poor and low-income people, also by supporting small projects and microloans promoted by the governorates. In addition to these initiatives, there is a project supported by the Government which provides the youth with low-cost housing or cooperative loans.

In short, poverty as an issue is at the centre of any Egyptian plan, either in all the social measures and in all the economic reforms. The process has been promoted within the framework of the cooperation with international agencies, and the shared efforts have had a great impact on carrying out these policies. One of the programs implemented with the support of the Ministry of Insurance and Social Affaires and of the Italian Embassy and Italy is PAP and this has had a huge impact on local communities, especially as regards their social activities.

I would like to thank those who made this program possible with their productive and fruitful help; moreover I would give special thanks to the Governors, to the administration staff, and to all the staff in the governorates who have been engaged in the initiative.

H.E. Antonio Badini, the Ambassador of Italy in Egypt

I am very happy to share the honor with Dr Ameena El-Guindi, the Minister of Insurance and Social Affairs, to open this important seminar on microcredit, organized in the framework of the initiatives set up by the General Secretary of the United Nations to declare 2005 the International Year of Microcredit.

Today we celebrate the conclusion of the bilateral implementation of the Poverty Alleviation Program which, from now on, will be completely managed by our Egyptian friends.

PAP started in the Governorates of Giza and Minia and has immediately revealed to be successful and proved that a new process of participation and involvement of the entire community in managing microcredit resources has started. All the beneficiaries I have met during my field visits have become main promoters of this process in their community by fostering a very effective interaction between local authorities, local institutions and civil society.

We can state that this kind of interaction pattern could be established as a model and an example for the entire International community.

I wish to express both my Country‘s and my own appreciation for the work carried out so far; moreover, since we are convinced indeed that microcredit is a very valuable tool in creating people’s self-development and as a mechanism in poverty alleviation, I also confirm that Italy has the intention of maintaining its support and cooperation along this line of development.

Mr Antonio Loche, Italian Committee for 2005 International Year of Microcredit

The General Secretary of the United Nations has defined 2005 as the International Year of Microcredit, and in Italy, as a member state of the UN, we have created a National Committee, to promote microcredit in our country and in the world. Microcredit has been designed as an instrument to support development in the world, and this is the meaning of the International Year, not only to promote the economic growth. Economic growth is important, but also the support of financial and social inclusion, one of the main goals of microcredit, may help reducing the divisions between members of societies.

The social cohesion is a value for microcredit, a tool which proves to be necessary to produce social solidity and to make societies stronger, by leading them to their full development. The Italian National Committee is represented by a member of the Government, Minister Mario Baccini, who, in this occasion, is conveying his appreciations. The Italian National Committee for Microcredit will also promote in the next months some meetings with the European National Committees for Microcredit, because, as you know, almost each country in Europe has established a National Committee for Microcredit.

I also take the occasion to thank and to deeply appreciate our Italian Ambassador, Antonio Badini, for the role he has played as a guide and his direct involvement that has enhanced the success of the Egyptian Poverty Alleviation Program.

I think all the initiatives taken are in the direction of development, not only of economic growth and in this sense the Mediterranean region needs development to promote the dignity of the individuals through the access to credit in order to open the way to social cohesion and social inclusion. This example from the Italian Poverty Alleviation Program may be applied in other areas and by other actors in the Mediterranean region and, giving its success, I am sure they will.

Plen. Min. Giuseppe Deodato, General Director of Italian Development Cooperation

I am honoured to confirm today that the Italian Cooperation is strongly committed to sustain the global effort of developing financial and banking services for millions of underserved people. We strongly believe that fostering inclusive financial sectors worldwide will improve the lives of millions of people and help achieving the Millennium Development Goals. For the Year of Microcredit, the Italian Cooperation has organized a number of conferences and workshops as well as produced valuable researches in order to understand what obstacles are presently hindering the expansion of the financial sector to lower income people and how we can help promoting financial markets to include poorer people.

We are aware that the current situation seems to be quite discomforting even in our country, and the Bank of Italy has recently published a study showing that a share of 14.5% of the people are still considered unbankable. This is why we consider the International Year of Microcredit as a most welcomed opportunity to ponder these data and to discuss and find ways to promote the benefits of the financial sectors to the lower income classes of the population worldwide.

Microcredit is very relevant to Italy as small business is at the heart of Italian economic development: today, our small entrepreneurs can count on the services of over 8.000 banks. These banks have developed a range of products to match the needs of micro and small entrepreneurs, and I would like to mention here the important contribution to the Italian economic and social development of cooperative banking, rural banking, agricultural banking and other forms of small scale business banking that are very active in Italy.

The Italian Cooperation promotes microcredit programs as a donor country. I would like to bring up here the successful example given by the PAP, a program that we have financed in Egypt. This project has showed to be a successful example of an effective implementation of a microcredit scheme. The project has witnessed a constructive collaboration between the Italian Cooperation and the Egyptian Ministry of Social Affairs and Insurance that led to amazing results: almost 35.000 microcredits have been disbursed with the involvement and empowerment of local communities and the realization of important social activities of which the population of these areas has highly benefited. All this is included in a scheme which has proved to be sustainable as it is presently working very successfully with its own resources.

PAP is an example of how the "micro economic environment", if supported and stimulated, can lead to excellent results. Microfinance can be an effective tool in Developing Countries, not only to fight poverty but also to enhance and endorse development and we welcome all the positive examples, like PAP, that promote such results.