The Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) will be holding its 57th Charter Anniversary Symposium on November 10 to 11, 2014 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.
The two-day symposium, with the theme, "Rural Banks: Reliable Partners of Local Communities for Growth,” will highlight the industry’s continuing advocacy for financial inclusion and sustainable economic development in the countryside. It also celebrates the effective and long-standing partnership between rural banks and the government in promoting rural growth.
Through the symposium, RBAP aims to facilitate capacity-building and knowledge-sharing among member-rural banks on practical strategies for them to become the government’s active partners in continuing to serve the countryside for sustainable growth.
The Association has assembled distinguished resource speakers–including experts from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Credit Information Corporation, and Philippine Institute for Development Studies–to share their knowledge and increase the competency of rural banks as effective social and economic movers.
Among the topics to be discussed are Growth Alternatives: Mergers and Acquisitions, Financial Inclusion and the Potential of Unbanked Markets, and Gearing up for ASEAN Integration: Effects on Rural Banking Sector, among others.
With 530 head offices and 2,500 branches scattered across the archipelago and their experience in microfinance, rural banks offer the best and fastest solution toward financial inclusion, an integral component in the government’s goal of inclusive growth.
Given its timeliness in the industry’s current landscape, the symposium will also seek to address the challenge of increasing competition where bigger local banks expand to new markets, including the countryside where rural banks operate.
Rural bankers will also have the opportunity to engage experts on mergers and acquisitions and find time to reflect and consider the feasibility of M&As in gaining a stronger foothold to better serve their clients.
The rural banking industry has never stopped striving to keep up with the times and it has succeeded doing so for the last six decades. Some might have ended their journey early, but 530 rural banks remain solid and on their feet. As they go forward, they will not be alone as RBAP commits to stand by them and empower them to face the challenges that lie ahead, especially under the "New Vision, One Direction, Stronger Organization” mantra.//
