Upcoming Training and Event

3rd Latin American Cluster Conference (3CLAC)
www.clusterslatinoamerica2008.com
Chihuahua, Mexico, 27 May 2008

Internationalization of the Competitive Clusters: Which Strategies, Which Tools? Which Methodes?
http://tinyurl.com/6nhqp7
In cooperation with the German Kompetentznetze and under the high patronage of the French Secretary of State for Trade and SMEs, Europa InterCluster is co-organising on 24 June in Limoges a conference on the internationalisation of clusters. This will be an opportunity for cluster managers from all over Europe to relate their cooperation practices.

5th Microfinance Training of Trainers: A Blended Distance Learning Course

http://www.adbi.org/event/2532.5th.microfinance.distance.learning.course/
The Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) and the Tokyo Development Learning Center (TDLC) of the World Bank are pleased to offer the fifth Microfinance Training of Trainers (MFTOT) Course from 16 July to 30 October 2008. MFTOT is a unique blended distance learning course which aims to enhance the knowledge of microfinance practitioners and strengthen the institutional capacity of microfinance in the Asia-Pacific Region.

The Housing Finance Summer Academy
http://www.frankfurt-school.de/housing-finance
20-25 July 2008 in cooperation with Housing Development Finance Corporation, India.
The Housing Finance Summer Academy focuses on providing practical knowledge and tools in housing finance for successfully managing lending operations while picking up on the newest development and best practices on the market.

Making Markets Work – a two-week training programme
http://www.springfieldcentre.com/index.php
Glasgow, UK, 13 – 23 Aug 2008, Springfield Centre

This unique programme focuses directly on a key challenge facing governments and development agencies: how to make markets function more effectively for business and for poor people? The programme builds on the Springfield Centre’s successful record in offering training on the market development approach to more than 700 people over the last nine years. Closing date for applications is Wednesday 21st May 2008.

The Micro Banking Summer Academy
http://www.frankfurt-school.de/summer_academy
Preparation Course ”Microfinance Principles” (22-24 August 2008)
Week 1 ”MFI Management in a Changing Environment” (24-29 August 2008)
Week 2 ” Commercial Microfinance in a Competitive Environment”(31 Aug– 5 Sep 2008)

Building Inclusive Financial Systems: How Can Funders Make a Difference?
http://cgap.org/direct/training/training.php
Dubrovnik, Croatia, 8-12 September 2008

Kigali, Rwanda, 10-14 November 2008 en français
This CGAP/MFMI course is tailored specifically to donors, investors, and policymakers interested in keeping up with the rapidly evolving world of microfinance while gaining practical skills in microfinance appraisal and performance-based management.

The 2008 WTO Public Forum ”Trading into the Future”
Geneva, Switzerland, 24 – 25 September 2008, WTO headquarters
http://www.wto.org/english/forums_e/ngo_e/forum08_background_e.htm
Civil society representatives interested in organizing a session during this year’s Forum should fill out the Call for Proposals Form (available on the NGO page of the WTO website).

Microinsurance Conference 2008
http://tinyurl.com/5ugvj3

Cartagena, Colombia, 5-7 November 2008
There are many challenges in providing microinsurance. Low-income persons are vulnerable to risks, but so far insurance has been accessible only to a few, often through informal or mutual schemes. In most countries, commercial insurers have largely stayed away from the low-income market, mainly because of high costs and small premiums. Yet that is beginning to change, as new cost-effective models are emerging to extend insurance to the poor.

Filed under: Development, Economy, Research, Events, Training

Upcoming Training and Events

Seven Training modules for Entrepreneurs

http://www.bds-forum.net/training-modules/

Training module for business start-ups in French and English. Introducing the four steps of business implementation including practical exercises (action planning, business idea generation, analyse your competencies, SWOT analysis of the business idea (Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats). These training modules are published without copyright and free for use. Modules: 1 on Steps of business implementation, 2 on Marketing, 3 on Accounting, 4 on Administrative procedures, 5 on Financing your business, 7 on International Trade Promotion.

Greening the Economy – New Energy for Business

http://www.ebsummit.eu

21 – 22 February at the 6th EBS!
The sixth European Business Summit provides the perfect meeting opportunity for more than 2000 participants from the business community, EU and national political circles, scientific platforms and NGOs from more than 60 nationalities, to debate and exchange views on how to boost business in Europe and Europe in business. Climate change, energy and eco-innovation are at the heart of today’s worldwide debate. Key question for Europe is how to become more competitive whilst being global leader in climate quality at the same time. Therefore, the 2008 EBS will focus on how the EU can turn the ‘carbon challenge’ into business opportunities, giving new energy to growth and jobs.

Value Chain Concepts

http://www.mdf.nl

The Netherlands, 25-29 February 2008
Hans Posthumus Consulting and MDF will present, discuss and practise the Value Chain Concept in a structured and participatory way. Due attention is given to the various approaches that exist among Value Chain Development practitioners and the various roles that donors, development organisations, private sector organisations, governmental organisations and other stakeholders can play. You will exchange experiences, practice tools and instruments to develop your skills and increase your understanding of the actual practices as well as the process and management thereof. The training approach will be experience-based with emphasis on practical examples. MDF/HPC staff and external resource persons will facilitate, deliver lectures, exercises and discussions, complemented by exploring real-life cases chosen from cases proposed by the participants.

International Anti-Corruption Conference

http://www.dbbakademie.de/korruptionbetrug.html

Cologne, Germany, 25 – 26 February 2008
The international conference on the topic of corruption aims at providing information about the developments on fighting corruption in the European Union as well as promoting better co-operation among the Member States. The international conference supports the co-ordination of actors.

Regional Innovation Strategies for Cluster Internationalisation and Global Competitiveness

http://www.clusterforum.org/media/191207Agenda_02_2008.pdf

Karlsruhe, Germany, 26-27 February 2008
The focus of the International Conference CLOE – Clusters Linked over Europe is on exchanging experiences, how best to support successful cluster evolution and how to stimulate knowledge, innovation and internationalisation of clusters.

Banking on Development

http://www.oecd.org/site/0,3407,en_21571361_37824719_1_1_1_1_1,00.html

Geneva, Switzerland 28-29 February 2008
OCED-led Policy Public-Private round table. Jointly organised with the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the context of the OECD Global Forum on Development.

Business Planning and Financial Projections with Microfin

http://www.microfin.com

Washington DC, USA, 7 – 11 April 2008
Bali, Indonesia, 31 Mar – 4 Apr 2008
Microfin has long been the microfinance “industry standard” for planning and budgeting. This course uses the new version of our software, Microfin 4. Microfin 4.0 includes 200 major enhancements over Microfin 3.0, including an expanded range of financial products, improved guidance and error-checking features, versatile graphing, and much more.

Second Conference on Micro Evidence on Innovation in Developing Economies

http://rqsi.ulaval.ca/url.php?i=3119&f=News&l=En

Beijing, China, 21 – 23April 2008
The aim of the conference is to bring together researchers from around the world to discuss the importance and the different dimensions of innovation in relation with economic growth and development. In this second Conference, a particular emphasis will be put on innovation in China and other BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, South Africa) countries.

Radical Challenges in Innovation Management

http://rqsi.ulaval.ca/url.php?i=3118&f=News&l=En

The 9th Continuous Innovation Network (CINet) conference will take place in Valencia on 8-9 September 2008. Academics, practitioners and consultants involved in managing innovation and change are invited to submit presentations. Abstracts should be sent electronically to the conference secretariat before March 3, 2008.

First International Workshop on Economic Aspects of Corruption

http://eri.ir/fa/index.asp?tar=page&id=88

Tehran, Iran, 3.-4.November 2008.
Deadline for paper Submission: 1.April 2008.

Microfinance Passport distance learning course

http://www.microfinancepassport.com

Plural India announced the launch of its “Microfinance Passport”, a four-month distance learning course for those interested in the emergent field of microfinance. The course comprises two comprehensive modules spanning an expansive range of topics in microfinance, both at the macro and micro level, Freestyle (debate sessions) and GroundZero (field visits to partner microfinance institutions).

e-Learning at UNITAR 2008

http://www.unitar.org/pft/elearning

The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) is pleased to announce its 2008 e-Learning Course Calendar. For 2008, UNITAR will be conducting over least fifteen online courses intended for a global audience of finance-sector and trade officials.

Filed under: Uncategorized, Events, Training

Microfinance Profits: Muhammad Yunus challenges Compartamos bank

Is it ok to make a big profit from lending to the poor? Where does microcredit end and loan sharking begin? Carlos Danel and Carlos Labarthe, the CEOs of Compartamos, a nonprofit-cum-commercial bank which charges an annual interest rate of nearly 100 percent, believe that only the lure of profits will motivate people to lend to the poor. Today Compartamos reaches 700,000 borrowers and 88 percent of its clients come back for more loans. In 2006, it was rated as Mexico’s most profitable bank. Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel laureate who pioneered the movement three decades ago and has made loans to some 7 million borrowers in Bangladesh, disagrees. Poor people’s willingness to pay high interest is not a justification for charging it, he says. Compartamos is not microcredit, it’s “raking in money off poor people desperate for cash.” http://psdblog.worldbank.org/psdblog/2007/10/muhammad-yunus-.html

Filed under: Uncategorized, Development, Events, Microfinance

Accra Conference: Business environment reform: Syntheses, Conferences papers

Most of the Papers and Presentations from the Conference have now been posted to the Business Environment Working Group of the Donor Committee for Enterprise Development. Of particular importance is the draft BE Donor Guidance, under b); your comments are invited at the dedicated blog at http://donorguidance.blogspot.com. In due course, the remaining Papers and presentations from the Conference (including more documents in French) will also be posted. http://www.businessenvironment.org/dyn/be/besearch.details?p_phase_id=142&p_lang=en&p_phase_type_id=6

Filed under: Uncategorized, Business Environment, Development, Entrepreneurship, Events

Promoting Pro-Poor growth: A Practical Guide to ex-ante Poverty Impact Assessment

Enabling poor women and men to participate in, contribute to and benefit from growth is critical to creating a path out of poverty and meeting the Millennium Development Goals. Yet without ex ante assessment of likely impacts, policies and programmes often fail to achieve the desired pro-poor impacts. To help donors and partner countries identify the consequences of their interventions, the DAC Network on Poverty Reduction (POVNET) has developed a modular, ex ante Poverty Impact Assessment (PIA) approach. This practical guide will help staff in development agencies and their partners to plan and execute PIA, and to interpret the findings it produces. OECD DAC Guidelines and Reference Series. http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/46/39/38978856.pdf

Filed under: Uncategorized, Development, Events, Manuals, Poverty, Publications