Opening Remarks by Mario Lamberte, Director for Research at 4th Microfinance Training of Trainers: Blended Distance Learning Course

Ladies and gentlemen. Good Morning, good afternoon, and good evening to you all.

It is my honor and pleasure to welcome you to the 4^th delivery of the Microfinance Training of Trainer Course. It is exciting to be here at this unique gathering of friends of microfinance from over 40 countries from Asia to Africa. The MFTOT started in 2005 as a pilot activity for 20 participants in seven countries. It has since grown to become one of the most successful distant learning courses organized by donors.

It’s taken a lot of hard work, innovation, and dedication from people in different parts of the world to bring you this special day. When we think of it, a few years ago, the idea of a course like this would have been nothing more than a dream in someone’s fertile imagination. Today, people in over 40 countries are connected through this event. On behalf of the ADB Institute, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all that have been working very hard behind the scene for months or even years to make the MFTOT what it is today. Special thanks go to UNCDF for granting ADBI the copyright to use their excellent learning materials in this course.

The importance of this course can not be underestimated. Today we are living in a world where more than three billion people do not have access to formal financial services. Providing access to microfinance is providing people a chance to improve their own lives. It is an opportune time that, last November, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Grameen Bank and Dr. Mohammed Yunus, an economist who pioneered microfinance in Bangladesh. Interestingly, the Nobel Prize was given for peace, not for economics. This is a clear recognition of contribution of microfinance to world peace and stability. All of you should be proud to be playing a strategic role in making the world a better place.

In the next four months, the course organizers and the tutors will do our best in supporting all of you. In return, it is our sincere hope that you will put your best efforts into mastering the course materials and thus empower yourselves to become the seeds of growth for microfinance in your corner of the world.