PMIC & CERP Host A Roundtable

Pakistan Microfinance Investment Company (PMIC) and Center of Economic Research in Pakistan (CERP) jointly organized a roundtable in Islamabad with the aim to bring together key stakeholders to share experiences and jointly articulate the way forward to meet the potential demand for education financing in the country.. The roundtable discussion was attended by key stakeholders including microfinance institutions, microfinance banks, commercial banks, development agencies among others.

In the keynote address, Mr. Waqas ul Hasan, Senior Private Sector Development Adviser DFID reiterated DFID’s commitment to promote access to finance for low cost private schools in the country whilst focusing on the objective to enhance quality of education for the underserved segments of the population. This was further reaffirmed by Mr. Yasir Ashfaq CEO PMIC indicating that as the wholesale institution and sector developer for microfinance in the country, PMIC is focused on provision of education financing in the country supplemented by non-financial services targeted to improve the quality and teaching methods. Professor Asim Khwaja of CERP emphasized on the need for adequate research and analysis of the education financing sector in the country.

A common understanding was reached among the stakeholders to further explore the needs of the low cost private school segment and start investing in education financing. Discussions during the roundtable centered on the action steps required to reach scale and to make formidable headways. The roundtable discussion concluded with the participants resolve to work in cooperation with each other to enhance education financing through microfinance, create the required impact and to ensure systematic data gathering protocol.