A seminar on SMEs financing landscape in Myanmar was held at UMFCCI office in Yangon as part of the financial literacy project

A seminar on the SMEs financing Landscape in Myanmar: A Multifaceted Approach took place at UMFCCI in Yangon, on Sunday.

The seminar focus on financing and loans, financing necessary, Credit Bureau and Credit history, loan products and services as well as the challenges and opportunities of SMEs.

This is the part of the financial literacy project and it is intends to know more about SMEs managements and services, personal finance, budgeting, income and expense tracking, insurance and retirement planning, said the organizer. 

Founder, Matrix Institute of Professionals, May So Pyay Nyan said "SME is very important role to reduce the poverty alleviation in the country. We intend for the financial market and capital market development.

SMEs in the country are facing challenges in technology, energy and financing. Out of these three challenges, financing is the major issue, a member of SMEs Development Central Committee said."

Member, SMEs Development Central Committee, Dr. Maung Maung Thein said "Financing is the main problem and we have still weaknesses in the areas of statistic, collecting data, business plan, loan application and property. We need to share the SMEs entrepreneurs to solve financial problem as credit guarantee insurance system. To develop such kind of system, the government needs to provide more."

One of the panelists pointed that getting loan is still a challenge for SME industry, saying it needs a lot of procedures. He also added that the SME entrepreneurs need to change in doing business.

Managing Director, Citizen Business Insurance Public Ltd., Thaung Han said "SMEs enterprises are facing difficulties to access to loan even though the government has laid down the policy and strategic plan to solve the problems. The entrepreneurs are still working in their traditional methods so they have needed a lot of changes in their way of doing business."

More than 99.4 % of the local businesses in Myanmar are small and medium enterprises. There are over 40,000 registered SMEs, according to the Ministry of Planning and Finance. The government planned to provide loans to SMEs sector development during this year.

(Myanmar International TV Channel: http://www.myanmarinternationaltv.com/news/economic-development-smes-financing-landscape-myanmar )

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