The Arab Gulf Program for Development (AGFUND) and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) are jointly organizing an international symposium on the role of donors in meeting the basic needs of the poor in education, health, energy, housing and agriculture through microfinance.

According to AGFUND’s Director for Communications Abdulatif Aldwaihi, the workshop is scheduled to run from today for two days at OFID’s headquarters in the Austrian capital Vienna.

The official said the most important objectives of the workshop are focused on finding out ways to use microfinance mechanisms to meet the basic needs of a large segment of the poor in developing societies.

He said the workshop will review the benefits of linking the provision of financial services in the microfinance industry with nonfinancial services in the fields of health, education, energy, agriculture and housing.

The same source said Prince Talal, president of AGFUND, will address the seminar and talk about his organization’s vision with special reference to utilizing microfinance to combat poverty. He will also talk about AGFUND’s achievements in establishing banks for the poor in the region. During his presentation, global examples of successful experiences in the application of microfinance will be featured.

The most important challenge facing microfinance is the presence of a large financing gap between demand and supply for microfinance services, limiting the expansion and spread of existing institutions aiming to provide services to the poor in an effective manner.