SWITCH-Asia Network Facility
European Union

Enabling Access to Finance

Gap between supply and demand for Green Financing

SMEs constitute the backbone of Asia’s production, and are important players to address when dealing with industrial pollution and resource efficiency, and this logically requires finance. Still often the availability of sufficient funds is raised. But more and more it is recognised that funds are available, but the problem is that SMEs lack accessibility to those sources for favourable financing of cleaner and more efficient production systems to reduce their environmental load.

 

It appears there is a challenge to sustainable development in Asia how to close the apparent gap between supply and demand for Green Financing of Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs).

  •  How do we support value chain financing and access to finances for resource and energy efficient technologies in SMEs?
  • What measures have already taken or are envisioned to be taken to develop a set of financial products and services for sustainable consumption and production in Asia?    

 

These are some of the questions that were during the year already addressed in customised sessions at the sub-regional SWITCH-Asia Networking events by representatives of Financial Institutes from Sri Lanka, China and the Philippines and at the 10th APRSCP in Yogyakarta also an “enabling access to finance” session took place.

The session was opened by Mr. Walter Kennes of the EU DG Devco – the funding agency of the SWITCH-Asia programme – who outlined new ideas on how to support this process in Asia.

 

It offered key-notes from finance institutions, who were addressing these problems as their daily business; amongst others from a regional perspective (ADFIAP, as association for developing banks in Asia, who is supporting initiatives in different countries – examples were given) and 2 very interesting country perspectives. Mr. Wan Azhar Wan Ahmad gave insight how a governmental initiated programme - Malaysian Green Technology Finance Scheme  – tries to support further access to finance. And Mr. Santoso presented how a commercial bank in Indonesia (Bank Jateng) her responsibility takes.

 

The scheme presented by Mr. Octaviao Peralta (ADFIAP) resumed all presentations and discussion.