Argentine foreign minister lauds BRAC initiatives

Led by Argentine foreign minister Santiago Andres Cafiero, a high-level delegation arrived in Dhaka on Monday on a debut state-level visit from the Latin nation. As part of their three-day trip, they met with the BRAC senior leadership team.

The Argentine minister visited the BRAC head office today in the capital on Monday as part of his first-ever bilateral visit to Dhaka from 27 February - 1 March. The purpose of his visit was to learn about BRAC’s approach to designing anti-poverty solutions, especially with a focus on women's empowerment and financial inclusion of rural women.

Santiago Andres Cafiero is leading a 26-member high-level delegation on his maiden state-level visit from the South American nation. Luciana Tito, chief of cabinet; Guillermo Merediz, undersecretary, trade and investment; and other key government officials were present along with BRAC leadership.

Asif Saleh, BRAC executive director; Arinjoy Dhar, senior director, microfinance; Moutushi Kabir, senior director, people, culture, and communications; and Anna Minj, director, programmes, BRAC International; Tasmiah Tabassum Rahman, associate director, skills development programme were present from the BRAC leadership.   

The Argentine minister said, "Microfinance is a growing sector in Argentina and there are a number of organisations which are trying to support vulnerable families." He added, "Covid-19 accelerated the growth of the financial inclusion in general as the Argentine government opened 3.5M bank accounts for Argentine citizens for them to access different family welfare programmes."

The minister enquired about BRAC's intention of providing technical assistance to Argentina for microfinance.

BRAC executive director said, "Financial inclusion is one of the many tools that BRAC offers to combat poverty from multiple directions. We will be very much interested to pursue opportunities to collaborate with the Argentinian government to share our decades-worth of learning and knowledge on how to bring about financial inclusion in a responsible manner."

The Argentine delegation will leave Dhaka on 1 March.