MANILA (XINHUA) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said yesterday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Mastercard Impact Fund to establish a partnership aimed at supporting micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) across Asia and the Pacific.
The ADB said the initiative will initially target Georgia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.
It will leverage a grant of USD5 million from Mastercard to financial institutions to catalyse lending toward MSMEs, focusing on women-led or women-owned MSMEs and climate finance among small businesses, the Manila-based bank said.
The grant will support up to USD1 billion of ADB financing over a four-year period, providing risk-reduction capital, performance incentives, and capacity building for financial institutions, it added.
