DUSHANBE, November 20, 2015, Asia-Plus -- A one-day interactive seminar titled “The Concept of Establishing a Loan Guarantee Fund in Tajikistan” is taking place in Dushanbe today.

The seminar is a joint initiative of the GIZ Program “Framework and Finance for Private Sector Development in Tajikistan” and the Business Startup Program of the Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation in Tajikistan.

A loan guarantee fund is a financial instrument that enables the facilitation of financial markets development, and helps improve the access to finance for small and medium entrepreneurship.  As a result, microfinance organizations working with the loan guarantee fund may boost their profile in the financial market.

Dr. Maciej Gajewski, PhD is facilitating the seminar.  An international expert in the development and management of guarantee funds, Dr. Gajewski specializes in transition countries (Lithuania, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kyrgyzstan, and the like).  He also produced numerous publications on the issues of financing small and medium enterprises.

The seminar participants will get to know the international experience of setting up loan guarantee funds, as well as study the needs and interest of microfinance organizations in defining the type of the future fund.  More than that, they will have an opportunity to identify the framework for the loan guarantee fund’s functionality.