The United Nations Secretary-General's Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development, H.R.H. Princess Máxima of the Netherlands, is to address the Financial Inclusion Policymakers Forum, held in Kuala Lumpur 5 - 6 April 2011. The event, hosted by Bank Negara Malaysia in collaboration with the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), also includes a Special Address by Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor, Bank Negara Malaysia and former Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Usha Thorat.

Over the course of the two day forum, over 100 policymakers from around the developing world will share their experiences and exchange views with their peers on how to best promote an inclusive financial sector that offers quality savings, credit, insurance, and payment services to low-income people and other consumers new to formal finance. Discussions will focus on the increasingly important role of consumer protection regulation and supervision in addition to financial education as means to ensure enhanced consumer welfare and development of a healthy and responsible market.

Bringing together key policymakers and regulators from more than 35 countries, the Financial Inclusion Policymakers Forum will include practical discussions on how to implement, measure, and evaluate the effectiveness of financial education, and challenges to implementing and enforcing consumer protection regulation. Follow-on technical workshops will promote further exchange of practical tools and experience in these domains.

Key speakers at the forum include Katharine McKee, Senior Advisor at CGAP; Flore-Anne Messy, Principal Administrator, OECD International Network for Financial Education; Dr. Alfred Hannig, Executive Director of Alliance for Financial Inclusion; and Dr. Elisabeth Rhyne from the Centre for Financial Inclusion, Accion. More details on the forum can be found at the Bank Negara Malaysia website at http://bit.ly/fipf2011.

Bank Negara Malaysia, AFI, CGAP and OECD
28 March 2011

Information Note

Definition of Financial Inclusion
Financial inclusion is defined as the large-scale access to a variety of financial services for poor and low-income people. An inclusive financial sector is characterised by a continuum of financial institutions that together offer appropriate financial products and services to all segments of the population.

About Bank Negara Malaysia 
Financial inclusion is a high priority in Malaysia's national agenda. Since its establishment, Bank Negara Malaysia has formulated and implemented policies to promote financial inclusion to create balanced sustainable economic growth and to provide the opportunity for all members of society to benefit from economic progress.
Contact: [email protected] or 1-300-88-5465

About CGAP
to the world's poor. It is supported by over 30 development agencies and private foundations who share a common mission to alleviate poverty. Housed at the World Bank, CGAP provides market intelligence, promotes standards, develops innovative solutions and offers advisory services to governments, microfinance providers, donors and investors.
More at http://www.cgap.org.
Contact: Jeanette Thomas [email protected], +1 202 7444829
Read CGAP's blog on microfinance at http://technology.cgap.org.

About The Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI)
The Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) is a global network of central banks and other policymaking bodies in 70 developing countries. AFI provides its members with a learning platform for peer to peer knowledge exchange on financial inclusion policies that work, and grants to help implement them.
Contact: Alyson Slater (E-mail: [email protected] or +66 2660 3645 or visit www.afi-global.org

About OECD
The OECD is a multi-disciplinary inter-governmental organisation of 30 member countries which engages in its work an increasing number of non-members from all regions of the world. The Organisation's core mission today is to help governments work together towards a stronger, fairer and cleaner global economy. Through its network of about 250 specialised committees and working groups, the OECD provides a setting where governments compare policy experiences, seek answers to common problems, identify good practices, and co-ordinate domestic and international policies. Since 2003, the OECD has developed a comprehensive project on financial education which has been expanded in 2008 to emerging economies with the creation of the International Network on Financial Education (which includes 75 countries and 150 public institutions) and the International Gateway for Financial Education (www.financial-education.org), the first global clearinghouse on financial education.
Contact: Flore-Anne Messy (E-mail: [email protected]) or +33 1 45 24 96 56