Supporting Small and Micro Enterprises: Seminar

Damascus,(ST) -In a seminar held at the  Damascus Chamber of Commerce, the participants discussed the mechanisms of supporting small and micro enterprises, guarantees and conditions for obtaining loans and payment methods. The seminar “entitled Microfinance” was organized in cooperation with the Central Bank of Syria and the Al-Ebda’ Microfinance Foundation,.

The head of Damascus Chamber of Commerce, Mohammed Ghassan Al-Qalaa pointed out the importance of providing financing for small and micro enterprises to enable the largest number of citizens to obtain employment opportunities and provide income for them and their families and to contribute as much as possible to the provision of goods and services to their clients in the local market.

 For her part, Head of Licensing and Registration Department at the Central Bank of Syria, HananEilbouni, pointed out that the current microfinance institutions are not for profit, but only to enable these institutions to continue to provide their services and banking products and cover their expenses.

She described microfinance institutions as “banks of the poor” and they were created to find jobs and resources and to control consumption through the problems faced by these institutions .

The Director of Operations at the Bank of Creativity for Small Finance Issam Hindi  clarified that the bank provides comprehensive financial services for all individuals and small income-generating entrepreneurs in order to help them to improve their economic situation, pointing out that the number of customers with the bank reached over 13300 transactions with a maximum loan amount 700,000Syrian Pounds .

He pointed out that the bank supports graduates of technical and vocational education financially and morally to start small projects in addition to a student loan worth 300,000 Syrian Pounds.

The Director of the Damascus Chamber of Commerce Dr. AmerKharbotli pointed to the need to expand microfinance institutions much like other countries with dozens of these types of institutions, in view of the need of a large part of citizens to ensure income for them and their families.

Sh. Kh.