MAKING
CONNECTIONS
DELIVERING
RESULTS
A Community Fostering
Inclusive and Green Finance
Who We Are
We empower women-owned and led businesses in Asia and the Pacific by assisting financial institutions in providing gender-responsive and sustainable finance through the adoption of cutting-edge technologies.
Here, you will find a diverse range of knowledge products and learning events, including:
Check this site for updated resources.
This is a members-only portal that offers exclusive insights into industry knowledge. By becoming a member, you can:
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Access tailored knowledge events and materials on climate and gender related topics
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Download tools and toolkits related to sustainable finance
Embrace the power of knowledge, and let our portal keep you updated!
Spotlight
ADB Launches High-Level Advisory Group at Davos to Drive Private Sector Development in Asia and the Pacific
On 22 January, ADB announced the launch of its High-Level Private Sector Advisory Group on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland. The new Advisory Group, which includes global business leaders, will guide ADB’s strategy to harness private investment for sustainable growth, resilience, and digital transformation. It will identify and recommend concrete actions aimed at scaling the mobilization of institutional capital through innovative financial instruments and platforms, and accelerating the development of digital and AI-enabled infrastructure. ADB aims to increase its annual private sector financing four-fold by 2030, with 40% of public sector operations supporting private sector development. Read more here.
What We're Reading
This paper analyzes the dynamics of microfinance in Georgia, combining household survey results with financial and policy data to assess how the sector supports poverty reduction and inclusion.
It identifies structural and regulatory barriers and proposes ways to expand microfinance services. It offers insights for policymakers, financial institutions, and development partners seeking to promote inclusive growth.
News and Events
Read our latest newsletter: Reimagining Financial Inclusion with AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly evolving as a tool for all sectors, including the financial sector. How can AI be harnessed to support financial inclusion and empower women owned and led businesses? This edition of the gWFX Dispatch features the insights of guest authors from the Philippines and India, demonstrating how banks and fintech companies are embracing AI tools to assess creditworthiness and expand access to finance for women entrepreneurs in Asia and the Pacific.
Read and subscribe here.
New publication: Transition Finance Trends, Challenges, and Finance Sector Implications
On 12 December, ADB and Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking jointly published the research paper ‘Transition Finance Trends, Challenges and Finance Sector Implications,’ which examines existing frameworks, initiatives, and practices related to transition finance. This report recommends that the finance sector take collective action to broaden the investor and creditor base, enhancing contributions to global decarbonization. It calls for deeper sector-wide dialogue to implement these recommendations, potentially paving the way for collaborative financing mechanisms such as blended finance.
Read and download the publication here.
Financing Solutions for Women-Led Enterprises
Propelling Women Eco-Entrepreneurship into a Sustainable Future Webinar Series
The Financing Solutions for Women-Led Enterprises webinar held on 20 November featured innovative financing mechanisms and solutions that can unlock capital for women-led green businesses. The session explored how financial institutions, investors, and development partners can design inclusive financial instruments that empower women entrepreneurs to thrive in the green economy. Carola Menzel, gWFX Sustainability Expert, participated as a panelist, providing an example from gWFX research in the Lao PDR highlighting how financial institutions can empower female entrepreneurs in sustainable sectors. Other speakers included Aria Widyanto, Chief Risk and Sustainability Officer at Amartha Financial, Nguyen Thi Kim Phuong, Deputy Head of Corporate Banking, Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), and Parithad Petampai, CEO of Muangthai Capital Public Company Limited.
The webinar was part of the Propelling Women Eco-Entrepreneurship into the Future webinar series, which is co-organized with ADB under the EmPower: Women for Climate-Resilient Societies (EmPower) Programme, a joint effort between UN Women and UNEP, supported by the Governments of Germany, New Zealand, Sweden, and Switzerland.
The webinar recording is available here.
Read our latest newsletter: Future-Proofing Financial Institutions for Green Growth
How can the financial sector embrace inclusive and green growth opportunities? Future-proofing the financial sector requires institutions to go beyond targets and checklists and instead adapt new mindsets, upskill, and foster sustainable innovation.
In this issue, we examine how financial institutions can strengthen internal capacities to integrate sustainability into their core business models. We also look at a new approach to sustainable innovation built around banks as enablers of sustainable value creation for all stakeholders.
Read and subscribe here.
Technology
We support FIs in the identification and selection of cutting-edge technologies to facilitate gender-responsive and sustainable financing.
What We Do
Capacity
Building
We provide tailored knowledge solutions to enhance our partners' capacity in delivering inclusive financial services.
Funding
Opportunity
We explore funding and co-financing opportunities to support FIs in boosting lending to women and women's businesses.
Sustainable
Finance
We encourage and assist the implementation of sustainable finance in our partner FI's strategy, operation, products and services.
Partners
The CAREC Women’s Empowerment Online Platform (WEOP) is our knowledge partner. It is a comprehensive and user-friendly digital space that aims to empower women across the region by providing capacity development resources, opportunities for networking, knowledge sharing, and collaboration with stakeholders.
The CAREC member countries are Azerbaijan, People’s Republic of China, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
To promote finance sector development, the Financial Sector Development Partnership Fund (FSDPF) was established in July 2006 through contributions from the Government of Luxembourg. Given growing demand from the Asian Development Bank’s developing member countries for financing support, the Financial Sector Development Partnership Special Fund (FSDPSF) was created in January 2013. The FSDPSF focuses on the key operational areas of finance sector development, inclusive finance, and infrastructure finance. Since the fund was established, the FSDPSF has allocated a total of $25.5 million for 76 projects, some of which are capacity building initiatives of gWFX.
The High-Level Technology (HLT) Fund is a multi-donor trust fund established in 2017. It provides grant financing to promote the integration of HLT and innovative solutions into ADB-financed and administered sovereign and nonsovereign projects throughout the project cycle—from identification to implementation and operation. The fund encourages more widespread adoption of HLT to address development challenges in ADB's developing member countries.
Mastercard works to connect and power an inclusive digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart and accessible. Using secure data and networks, partnerships and passion, their innovations and solutions help individuals, financial institutions, governments and businesses realize their greatest potential.
Visa is a world-leading digital payments network that removes barriers and connects people to the global economy. Visa aims to uplift everyone, everywhere by being the best way to pay and be paid.
The Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) is our co-financing partner. We-Fi is a collaborative partnership among 14 governments, eight multilateral development banks (MDBs), and other public and private sector stakeholders, hosted by the World Bank Group.
Need more details?
We are here to assist you. Contact us by email at womenfinx@adb.org or through the contact form.
We are open from 8:00AM - 5:00PM Philippine Standard Time (UTC +8).